Through Fire and Water

Dedicated to my brother David who refused to give up on God, even when God Himself didn’t seem to care, and who is now joyfully married and on his way to the mission field in Slovakia.

You felt the pain of friends’ forsaking
And searing words of mentors close
Who called you unusable by God,
A worthless ore in the eyes of most.
Yet you stood firm in how God made you,
Trusting Him Who was scorched before
To justify His making of you,
To make you more than conqueror.

You faced darkness seeming endless,
An ocean void of human care,
Coldness, numbness, suffocation,
Depression and deep despair;
And still the flood you kept on fighting
For a purpose that God gave,
Not giving up in life because
You know the One for whom you live.

You showed me that life has meaning
Tho’ black billows swell and rave.
You showed me that I have purpose
Through the calling that God gave.
You found grace in earthly hell
And steadfast peace when chaos came.
You showed me how to crest a flood
And joy in Christ through burning pain.