If you think you know God,
Perhaps you better think again.
How do you think you know Him?
Have you ever heard His voice
Or seen His face,
Or touched His scars?
Perhaps you don’t believe Him,
And you think He is harsh.
You’re afraid to see Him
Because He would judge you
And condemn you
Just like most people have already done.
Yet before you judge Him, too,
Why not try to know Him?
Why not listen
Where He could be found?
God is merciful,
And God is just.
Perhaps one day we’d find out
He is far more just and far more merciful
Than we thought Him to be.
God is not trying to condemn you,
And God is not pushing you away.
Other people may have told you so,
But their voices are not the voice of God.
On the other hand, you may say you believe.
You believe Him to be kind.
And because He is kind,
He would grant all your wishes
Like a genie that never cares
Whether you’d be happy in the end.
God never promised
That you’d win the lottery,
Or that you’d get that house and lot.
He never promised a perfect life,
For those whom He loves.
God will not always save you from pain,
Neither shall He ensure you’d never feel alone.
The truth is that He can test you
And lead you to places you wouldn’t wish to go.
God is not a weak Father,
Nor is He a careless Friend.
God is not blind,
God is never deaf.
But God will not always answer
Your prayers
The way you think He should.
And if it’s for your own good,
He’d rather that you cry.
He’d rather that you feel,
What’s difficult in life.
Let us not pretend
That God is a comfortable Friend.
For He will dare you to be,
What you thought you’d never be.
And He will dare you to go.
Where you never thought you’d fly.
And when He hides,
Think not that He has abandoned you
For life.
May you see Him and trust Him,
And know
What God is not.
The thing about hope is that it’s a positive force that shines the most when it’s dark. When everything’s going well, we hardly notice it’s there. But when things go against us, when our dreams fade and when we see no immediate reprieve from our troubles, that’s when hope does its best work for us.
"Where Hope Can Be Found"