You Will Rise

“The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him;

though he may stumble, he will not fall,

for the Lord upholds him with his hand.”

Psalm 37:23-24

When I first wrote the poem below, it was with a friend in mind. My friend was struggling with depression and was barraged by the lies of the enemy. In the middle of the night, I woke up with these words on my heart.

Now I wonder if the words were also for me. I can look back and see how much my friend has grown and how she has found her footing again. It wasn’t easy. She battled to hear truth and today she knows her identity in Christ, an identity that is not defined by performance or relationships. After my divorce, I felt like a failure and shameful of my broken marriage. I second guessed knowing myself and others. I even doubted if God cared about my prayers and brokenness. I need to not only be reminded of these words, this truth from my Lord, but also of the work God is doing in others’ life and my own. I needed these words for this time when as I would grieve, I would lose my own footing and wonder if I could get back up again. I am reminded I too will rise.

Maybe these words were also for you. Dear One, read this poem with your name in the blanks, and believe that you too can rise.

You Will Rise

You don’t know the ＿＿＿＿ I know.

The one that I breathed life into,

the one that is called to be my light into the world.

You believe that you can quench that flame,

but you will not succeed.

She is mine, bought by my Son’s blood,

Her Savior that died for her.

You don’t know the ________ I know-

The ______ that seeks after me,

“as a deer that panteth after the water brooks,

so panteth her soul after (me).”

You see her stumble

and wait for her to fall,

but I see her stumble

and I know

she will rise.

You don’t know the _______ that I know,

My daughter sealed and chosen as my adopted one.

You don’t know the beauty inside,

you don’t know the plans I have for her,

plans to prosper and to thrive.

You don’t know my Beloved.