Friday, September 12, 2008

Lesser Words

As I sit outside looking at a sky that is finally blue again, enjoying the gentle breeze, my mind wanders, and my affection for words overtakes me. I feel consumed by my love for words. I search desperately for the right ones. In reality though, I find that I am truly consumed, not by my love for words, but by my love for the Word, the Word that was God and is God and lives within me. I can do nothing with this consuming love for the Word, except allow it to manifest itself in lesser words. Lesser words. They are all lesser words. Even the deepest and most beautiful crafting of words is shallow when compared to the grandeur of creation, let alone the grandeur of the Creator. I am struck by how temporary it all is. How lacking. It breaks my heart. And yet, even as I ponder how my words fall short of anything my soul longs to express, and I struggle to find something that might even scratch the surface, I am interrupted by one phrase: bring God glory. Yes, all my words fall pitifully short of the glory of God, and my life is only a vapor, yet I know that everything on earth will soon fade away, not just me. Even still scripture says that the earth declares God’s glory. So do I. God values the temporal. God takes pleasure in the temporal. God is glorified in the temporal. We were created for eternity, yes, but there is value in the here and now. How crucial it is that we live in grace and love to bring God glory! Without that purpose, there is no hope. We will all simply fade. Why live? Bring God glory. That is the abundant life that Jesus talks about in John 10:10. That is our “Promised Land.” To bring God glory.

Words

I can say the sky is blue
I can say the clouds are white
I can say the trees are green
I can say the breeze is light
Or I can reach for greater beauty
Search for words profound and deep
The breeze is like God’s life-breath
The clouds dust from His feet
I suppose that brings more pleasure
But it still does not fulfill
This stirring deep within me
To find something that will…

Bring God glory!

I sit here pen in hand
Not knowing what to say
Words contain such wonder
And yet mine fade away
Spoken they ride upon the breeze
Never heard again
Written they last a moment
Then they’re washed off in the rain
Still there is this stirring
That I cannot contain
The need for deep expression
From which I can’t refrain…

Bring God glory!

Even as I sit here
This one resounding phrase
Consumes my very being
And fills my heart with praise
The earth declares God’s glory
The sky, the trees, the birds
Still all these will fade
Like all my crafted words
And yet they bring God pleasure
That He would choose to live among
In the lives of all His people
Who walk in grace and love…

Bring God glory!

Stephanie M. Frakes
(September 11, 2008)