Sometimes We Miss The Scars...

Jesus said to him, 

“If[c] you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Mark 9:23-24

This poem began the other day, when, after listening

to 'her' frustrations, sorrows and challenges,

 all I could think of to say was,

'I will pray for you'.

As I pondered that promise I was a shamed to have wished

I could offer something more profound!

SO much to pray for, always!! 

So much to author awed worship and so much to kindle humble pleas

for God's leading, comfort, wisdom and provision,

 spiritually, emotionally and physically!

We pray for those who are striving to be faithful followers of Jesus,

for those who have wandered astray,

for those who have never put their faith in Christ

(and the finished work of Calvary.)

We pray for the poor, the downcast,

for those who mourn, 

for those in war-torn countries,

for the shut-in, and the shut out.

We pray for teachers and preachers,

students and school bus drivers.

We pray for strength for the day and rest at night.

For young, exhausted parents

and for those who long to be parents and are not...

We pray for the elderly, the lonely,

the sick and the prisoner...

The tempted and the fallen,

etc.

Sometimes we question His 'answers' 

(or what feels like His silence)

and sometimes the reason we question Him is because

we miss the scars on His hands 

(and who/what put them there)

How often we find ourselves echoing those words of old; 

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

What God Hath Promised (God Hath Not Promised Skies Always Blue)

Sometimes we miss the scars on hands we place our cares into

When kindness grasps at strands, and utters ‘I will pray for you’

But, this is no ‘when-all-else-fails, last-resort song-and-dance

No, this is to God, who prevails in spite of circumstance

His are the hands that wore the nails that bore deliverance

This is no consolation prize we offer casually

No secondary compromise of pious empathy

When we say ‘I will pray for you’ what sacred words we speak

When we pause to consider who hears the favors we seek

Whose ways are trustworthy and true; Whose strength uplifts the weak/meek

When we say ‘I will pray for you’ we relinquish control

And touch Him, like the woman who knew He could make her whole

The One who loves us so, who gave His Son, once and for all

To pay sin’s debt we owed, to break the curse wrought at The Fall

When we say I will pray for you’ it is on Him we call

Sometimes we miss the scars on hands outstretched to help us through

When desperation grasps at strands, with ‘I will pray for you’

But as we enter faith’s hushed courts, when creature cares beset

And trust the hands no hurtle thwarts and no ‘Unknown’ can fret

Then suddenly we see the scars that sometimes we forget

© Janet Martin

Heb.4:14-16

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,

 Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess.

  15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, 

but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.

  16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, 

so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

My Faith Looks Up To Thee