Faith-forge

 God sends enough yeses to defend guesses 

and enough no's to keep us on our toes/knees

How Eve-like we are; desiring to be as wise as God

How Adam-like we are; enticed by the lust of our eyes 

Sometimes we can't remember how we got through 'it' but God does

God tickles our scope of vision with glimpses of Him

All those 'important' things we think we will ask someday

 will be answered with one face-to-face look at His scars and His glory

The older we get the more learn 

about what we thought we knew

Easy to say 'surrender'

But far, far harder to do

 Trust in the Lord with all your heart

And lean not on your own understanding.

Prov.3:5

What kind of winter is this?! said a little girl,

vexed at the disappearing snow...

What kind of 'winter' is this?! we say sometimes,

vexed at our disappearing comfort-zones...

Sometimes our hearts and hands are wrung and wrung with constant care

And prayers and pleas of seed-sized faith are flung to the blue air

The groundwork for grand miracles often evades our eyes

As God works in mysterious ways we do not recognize

He gathers up our trembling cries and cups us in His Hands

Goodness and mercy’s shape and size man oft misunderstands

For God knows how the heart is prone to worship wood-stone fluff

And confidence man puts in man is simply not enough

His ways of drawing strays to Him sometimes seems harsh and hard

But He, so wise, faithful and kind is always on our guard

And like a tender Shepherd He searches through dark and cold

To find the sheep that wandered from the safety of the fold

Earth’s common paradises offer a most fragile peace

Where everything we hold is everything we must release

Foolish to fix our faith on foundations that melt like snow

Better to trust the Hand that never, ever lets us go

© Janet Martin