Saving to the uttermost,
Pleading our cause,
Jesus Christ offered himself
For sinners, once for all.
Nothing left undone,
No sin too vast,
Sin’s deadly grip broken
By Christ’s atoning sacrifice.
Our souls’ eternal rest,
Never to cease,
For our Savior lives
Forever to intercede.
Once and for all,
He offered himself.
Once and for all,
He tasted death.
Once and for all,
He paid sin’s cost.
Forever it is finished,
Forever our Great High Priest!
I cannot speak in my defense; all accusations true.
From evil deeds to good withheld, I know my guilt is sure.
Who can rescue me from the wrath and awaits?
I dare not raise my cursed eyes to look for grace.
But One turns my gaze – can it be true?
He says, “I spilt my blood for you.
Once and for all time, your guilt was erased.”
My soul finds rest in the eyes of grace.
I bring no merit, nothing to qualify me.
I bring no power, no goodness, no beauty.
Surrendering my brokenness to Jesus,
I find healing in nail-pierced hands of grace.
Nothing earned, all is Your gift.
Your love has bridged an eternal rift.
My soul freed from hell’s deathly embrace.
I am alive, called, and kept by Your loving grace.
May every breath and every heartbeat
Find me beholding my precious Savior,
Until the day I see his face
To forever gaze into the eyes of grace!
We groan
for the world we are meant for
and the Savior we long to see.
Crying,
“Lord Jesus, come! Make all things right!”
The light of Your presence is our joy.
No
darkness can dim the light of Your promises,
no trial compares to the joy waiting for us.
It’s not worth comparing
To the day we’ll see your face
When your glory surrounds us,
The people you’ve redeemed.
Every pain will fade in the presence of the Lamb.
The best is yet to come.
When waters of sorrow
Bring tears that overflow,
Your nearness is
Our unfading joy.
Though fiery trials
Burn away our dreams,
Your presence is
Our steadfast peace.
While our hearts are aching
And the storms keep on raging,
Your redeeming love is
Our evergreen hope.
In the depths of the valley
Your love lifts away our fear
Because you are near.
In the darkest night
You still shine Your light
Jesus Christ, our life,
Brought us near,
You are near, always near!
I wait for my God.
Though the wait is long,
I do not wait in vain.
Though all that seems strong
Should fall away like a shell,
I will not fear,
because He holds my life;
All will be well.
A poem for weary hearts…
Come to me, my weary child
And I will give you rest.
My strength will be enough
For your every weakness.
Trust in me, my fearful child,
Cast all your cares on me.
I give more grace for ev’ry test,
And I will be your peace.
Hope in me, my downcast child,
Trust my purpose for you.
Always faithful, always true,
I work all things for your good.
Wait for me, my grieving child
And I will wipe your tears.
With promises unfading,
I am making all things new.
When everything looks as though it is lost, we can trust that God is not finished yet. God delights to redeem the irredeemable parts of our lives. This is why, even when life gives us ashes, we can still have hope.
Nothing is lost
That You cannot restore.
You sovereignly take
To give us more.
Hope in the ashes
And good from the pain,
Your loving hands work
For our eternal gain.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” –Proverbs 13:12
When God says “No,” it is often perplexing. It is a jolt, a bitter blow to the heart. It is often disappointing and disillusioning – why? God often calls us to let go of the things we thought were his will and move forward in faith, but it often results in a battle of desires.
We tend to see the world (and even God’s will) in terms of what we want and don’t want, rather than what God has or has not called us to. When we are focused on our own desires, God has ceased to be at the center of our thought life. Our desires are not always a foreshadowing of things to come, but a tool in humility that God uses to drive us to greater dependence on him.
I have often found that when I begin to let go of deeply rooted desires, I feel a cavern within my soul, an emptiness. It is a part of my heart that I have filled with something other than God. When the idolatry is cleaned out, it lies void, waiting for something else to come and fill it. Lord, may you fill every part of our hearts and desires!
Part of allowing God to direct our hearts is letting go of the page He is turning and entrust our decisions and affections to the will of God. Sometimes His will can be a mystery and sometimes it can be characterized by the heartache of a “No” to even good desires.
Let not your heart grow “sick” because God is closing a door; remember that your hope has been secured through the finished work of Jesus Christ. If He was faithful to redeem your soul from death, He will be faithful to lead you for your good and His glory!
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” –Romans 15:13
Disappointment is often like a gift that we never asked for. It hurts, it’s ugly, it feels confusing, awkward, and sometimes disorienting. It’s the “season” that won’t end. It’s when the direction we thought we had is gone. It’s when the prayer we prayed seems to become a corpse that needs to be buried. It’s the testing of our faith and the sifting of our hearts. But it’s not the end. It’s only the groundwork being laid for God to build His purposes in our lives. As we’re emptied of ourselves, God gives us more of Himself – to marvel at His beautiful character, to be amazed His death-conquering love in Christ Jesus, and to trust his sovereign faithfulness in every area of our lives. These are truly gifts from God, even though they may often feel like hidden treasure, at first.
As I’ve been reflecting on the past few years, here are just a few areas that God has consistently and patiently used disappointment for my sanctification and joy in Him:
God’s sovereignty means my surrender…
Disappointments are a call to surrender – our idol of control, our pride, and our trust in ourselves. My surrender means freedom to trust the One who is trustworthy. When our plans are crushed to a pulp, our hearts can rest in the reality that God is still working out His good purposes. His will is going to be done and my grip for control must loosen.
My feelings don’t change His faithfulness…
Disappointment hurts and can often be disorienting and with it come the temptation to let our hearts run wild with frustration. Our responsive emotions are often wrought with sin – anger, self-pity, and idolatry – but God is still faithful. There is never a moment that He wasn’t guiding every detail of my life in love. His present direction (even in the form of disappointment) can be our future comfort, because His plans our always for our good, “to give us hope and a future” even when it doesn’t feel like it (Jeremiah 29:11).
Sustaining grace is most clearly seen in moments of desperation…
His power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Our “having it together” is not a prerequisite for God to show His power to sustain us. We can expect God to meet us in our weakness, we can trust that grace will be there even in difficulty, and that in turn changes how we view trial. God doesn’t simply suffer us to deal with pain and weakness on our own… We have the promise of His hand upholding us (Psalm 119:117).
An eternal hope in hopeless situations…
Hope… Sometimes it can feel like such a foreign word in the midst of disappointment and difficulty. Where is my hope? Is it in things going the way I expect them to, or is it in my Heavenly Father’s love for me in Christ Jesus? Am I trusting in who God says He is, or what I see? We can put our hope in the landslide of circumstances, or we can stand on Christ the solid rock on which we will not be shaken (Psalm 62:2). While life may look hopeless and trusting may be a battle, we have an eternal hope that is secure in Jesus Christ – nothing that happens in our circumstances, no pain, and no trial can destroy it. And if God did the impossible by making damned sinners beloved children by the blood of Christ, we can trust that He is able to bring redemption in every circumstance we are called to walk through.
