Captive but Free

You who were born for this day

Call out over time

Release the bindings of the captives

Open the locked gates

Throw open the iron clad doors

Call out O daughter

Call out O son

Release that which was placed within you

I gaze at my walls

All the long day and into the night

The walls are slick with guilt

And the hopelessness fills

The darkness that surrounds me

Save for the window at the top of my cell

I would surely perish

Your song comforts me

It releases me from my prison

The low touches of your voice

Make the stones shake

The high tones of your voice

Cause the hosts of Heaven to rejoice

In the Woods

Sounds of footfalls in the wood

A familiar stranger of specific wanderings

I walk in the cool of the evening

Under a moonlit sky

A battle rages

Between my heart and mind

It is explosive

Questions and answers rage against one another

My heart roils in anguish

My mind pounds with accusation

I am not at peace

My body is frail beneath its weight and action

How long have I wandered through this wood

To chance upon this open gate?

Do you bid me welcome

With your gates swung open so wide?

My heart flushes with apprehensive giddiness

If my movements had not been so slow

The gate would I have passed by

Dare I enter this refuge of solitude?

Do I ignore this open invitation?

My heart pleads for peace

It cannot bear under the strain of disappointment

Call to me again O open gate

Call again

Louder so that my wounded ears can hear

The wind blows

The trees begin to dance and sing

I am an intruder in a foreign land

Yet my heart beats though as a native son

My thoughts betray my heart

They break the stillness of the night

My soft footfalls interrupt the music of the night

Who is it that calls my name?

I hear it upon the breeze

Leading the way with soft touches upon my cheek

My willing heart floats along like fledgling down

I come upon a brook

The water so clear

Its song so bright, trumpets to those in attendance

Great oaks, white birches

Flowers of every color shine

With the regality of a thousand kingdoms

A cornucopia of gold, silver and precious jewels alike

Thrust out upon nature’s table

Forged wealth made by human hands

Cold and lifeless beauty

Imperfect symmetry

Flora and fauna burst forth

Soft petals, fragrant blossoms, avian consonance

Life and form ordained before time

Dare I approach the edge of this sacred pool?

It’s too hard to see myself

In the reflecting pool of Your love

I long to see my reflection stare back at me

Water moved by the wind

Like ripples of ancient peals of laughter

My heat is pierced

It empties upon the bank of the pool

My mind delves for meaning

Weak and exhausted

It collapses and lies prostrate beside

The contents of my war ravaged heart

There is a well up the knoll

Built by Ancient hands

Shrouded in mercy

Protected by love

I draw from its depths

Light dances within

I drink

The water is sweet and thick

Peace finds me

I am at rest

 

Overwhelmed

Overwhelmed.

What comes to your mind when you hear the word “overwhelmed”?

According to the Random House Dictionary, to overwhelm means “to overcome completely in mind or feeling”.  Have you ever experienced this feeling before?  Most of us have been in a place where our circumstances and our emotions seem to get the best of us and we in turn feel “overwhelmed”!

Something happened to me the other day that got me thinking about how I how have gotten used to misusing the word “overwhelmed”.

I was outside working in the yard when I heard the Lord ask me if I was ready to be “overwhelmed”.  The question surprised me but I became acutely aware that I was not anxious but at peace.  The Lord of the Universe (and, of course, everything else that was created) just asked me if I was ready to be “overwhelmed”!  I find it amazingly curious when the Lord makes these sort of veiled inquiries.  There is no pretense with the Lord.  So, what was the Lord’s intent when He asked me the question?

The Lord is perfect and there is nothing deceptive or evil within Him. When I began to ponder the Lord’s inquiry, I got the image of Jesus’ mouth turned slightly up in a small smile as He was asking me the question.  He knows my heart…He knows my mind…He knows the innermost parts of me.  So, why does He asks these types of questions?  Why did He ask ME this question?  He does it for our benefit.  We too often get “stuck” (or I recently heard the phrase “uncomfortably comfortable”) in our present situations and start to lose perspective on who we are but most importantly we begin to lose perspective of who He made us to be in Him.

So, there are times when Jesus comes along and asks us if we are ready to be “overwhelmed”.  This is a powerful truth that needs to be buried deep within our heart.  FYI – Strong’s Concordance defines “overwhelmed” as meaning “to be concealed, to be hidden”.

So, when the Lord asked if I was “ready to be overwhelmed”, the dreamer in me suddenly got excited.  I am a dreamer.  Some of my dreams are big, some are small, some are practical, some are outrageous, some demand divine intervention.  Dreamers need their dreams to come true ever so often.  I have big dreams…but I have a BIG God that hears them and I believe He is just waiting for us to step out of the boat and allow ourselves to be “overwhelmed” by His goodness, compassion and joy.  It is His heart to come with the explicit desire to conceal and hide me within Himself.  As the Psalmist wrote, “How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings” (Psalm 36:7) or “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” (Psalm 91:4)

Is it not AWESOME that through the unmitigated presence of the Almighty we begin to understand His heart for us as His children?!  I am ready Jesus to be OVERWHELMED with Your heart for me…Your plans and desires for me…Your intimacy…Your heart’s secrets!!

Come Lord Jesus OVERWHELM Your child!!

Until tonight.

I have a story to tell.

It is mine.  It is unique.  Most of the time it is extremely, gut-wrenchingly hard to articulate it with those that are the closest to me (even harder to put in up on the Internet).  It seems that I am constantly in a battle that says that my story is no different than the guy next door.  That the path that I am walking on is monochromatic and uneventful.

Until tonight.

I was created to be a champion.  What exactly does that mean?  I intend to find out.

I used to be a dreamer…then I decided to “grow up”.  It has taken me 14 years to realize that I committed a huge mistake because I shut off a very integral part of who I was created to be.

Until tonight (because my dreams take me into the very heart of the Father).

I used to be jealous of people who I perceived to find answers they were looking for in Scripture that supported and encouraged where they were in their own respective journey.

Until tonight (because I found one of Jesus’ hidden promises of love for me).

I know that I was created for something big.  How big?  Bigger than this restored dreamer can ever begin to imagine.

Until tonight (because I intend to get close).

Tonight is the night where I am writing in my heart that I matter.  That Heaven and all that it contains waits in breathless anticipation for every move I make.  I am a dreamer.  I was created to dream big.  I was formed so that I could actually be an involved participant in the exact moments where my dreams become reality.

I am highly favored by the King of Kings.  My thoughts and questions and inquiries mean everything to the Creator of the universe.  The Lord of my salvation earnestly desires to see my walk everyday in the freedom that He bought and secured for me at the cross.

This is going to be journal of a portion of my life where the reader will see how Jesus leads His kids along wandering paths (to our minds) with specific intentions.  My only request – just walk beside me and be my friend.

Starting…tonight.