WHAT IS FAITH?

HE WILL NEVER LEAVE ME

I am touched by the rays

Of a sun I cannot see.

Still, I am changed.

By Martha L Shaw © 2-29-2016

TRUST AND FOLLOW

Qavah

I embarked along the path

I was directed to take.

Assuming it would be short . . . .

Assuming clear weather . . .

Assuming a warm climate . . .

But these were brief and fleeting at best.

The path was mostly unpaved,

Slippery and full of fallen trees.

I stumbled and skinned my knees.

I was cold.

The only sound I heard was my own breathing

And the call of wild beasts of prey!

Oh, when would I . . .

No!

Ouch!

Why?

Will I ever?

At some point I turned around a bend

And there it was!

My destination,

For a time anyway,

Had been reached!

I sighed at the glow of the sun

And felt its rays.

I wonder . . .

Could it have been there all along

Waiting for me to look up?

By Martha L Shaw – © 2013

LIKE THE MOTHER BIRD

Just as a mother bird broods 

to protect her young . . .

giving them warmth,

safety,

covered with her love,

and when the time comes

sets them free

to do as they were created to do . . .

so, too, does our Creator God

love and protect us

in the shelter of His wings.

We may not see Him,

but His love, power, and grace

are with us always.

By Martha L Shaw – ©2018

 

 

 

 

REFLECTED GLORY

Lord,

your great love

your grace,

your favor

sweeps the clouds away

and opens my eyes anew

to the brilliance of Your light . . .

more glistening even than the sun

shining down on me

in unmeasurable abundance

from the endless sky!!

Let me be your servant

that others

may feel drawn to you

and know

your magnificance!

By Martha L Shaw – ©2018

 

 

 

 

IMPATIENT FOR GRACE

I was certain the day was coming!

But kept waking up without

feeling deflated

for a gift belated.

Would it never come at all?

A few days . . .

months . . .

years . . .

then it happened “overnight!”

My gift of grace,

more than I ever dreamed of

and surely did not deserve

came to me

at just the right time!

I am forever thankful!

By Martha L Shaw – ©2018

 

 

HIS

Marked As Yours

Your arms stretched out,

“it is finished” is what you said,

But for me it had only just begun.

All those years before my birth,

Your hand print of love

Was already on my soul

And eternal life with you was mine

Before my first breath!

Yours is a love without beginning

And without end!

By Martha L Shaw – ©2013

REBORN!

My transformation

mosaic of brokenness

reordered by God

By Martha L Shaw ©2016

 

GO DEEPER

To see what is truly opulent

one must look,

not to the obvious,

but to the very soul!

By Martha L Shaw ©2018

Flickering Hope!

FOUND

I fell to my knees

In the darkened space

With no sound but my own breath

But still

My soul heard your voice

And by the light of a single candle

I found The Way

By Martha L Shaw ©2015

THANKS FOR NOTHING!????!

Come on, y’all – you have shaken your head and thought

“what gives, Lord!” Just like all of us!  Well, He gives!

 

Ephesians 5:19-20

speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

This quote is one I cannot read often enough.  It’s so easy to be thankful when things in my life are just as I wish them to be, but when my plans don’t work out, or my prayers aren’t answered in the way I wish they’d been, I don’t always think to say “praise the Lord anyway” and I KNOW I should.  The quote both reminds and convicts me because God’s plan is always best and when He blesses me by not giving me what I want, what I receive ultimately turns out to be more than I can ever desire or pray for, just as the Bible repeatedly tells us.  So, join me in saying “thanks” even when the answer is “no.”  Thank you Lord for always knowing what’s best for me and for your patience!