Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness.
From Psalm 32:5: “Then I acknowledged my sin to You, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and You forgave the guilt of my sin.”
August Wilson (1945-2005) was an American playwright, who was honored to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Drama twice in 1987 and 1990. He has been referred to as the “theater’s poet of Black America.”
From Isaiah 1:4: “Woe, sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, offspring who do evil, children who act corruptly, who have forsaken the Lord, who have despised the Holy One of Israel, who are utterly estranged!”
Rebels and sinners
Destroying mankind
Forsaking our Lord
Always running blind
Evil filled with sin
Facing God’s high court
Shamming His guidance
Always falling short
His wrath pouring out
Avenging life’s foes
Consuming darkness
Always Father knows
Zion falls empty
Trampling God no more
Heeding to listen
Always grace to pour
Savior born on earth
Wielding Gospel’s might
Sharing His mercy
Always Christ’s daylight
From Isaiah 1:18: “Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: If your sins are like scarlet, will they become like snow? If they are red like crimson, will they become like wool?”
Gallant ship at risk
Battered by stormy seas
Crew now in peril
Bringing all to their knees
Wayward direction
No other help about
Lost in dark tempest
Navigating with doubt
Evil’s doom waiting
Chaos stirring despair
Waves follow waves
Growling like hungry bears
Hope draining away
Gloomy clouds hiding day
Erratic compass
Searching for tranquil bay
Turmoil faced alone
Unwelcome darkness roams
Light ahead invites
Sailing toward safety’s home
Beacon now fading
Promise dwindles away
Tomorrow postponed
Surrendering its way
It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our last day.
From 1 Thessalonians 5:4-5: “But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.”
From Psalm 97:10-11: “You who love the Lord, hate evil; He guards the lives of His faithful; He rescues them from the hand of the wicked. Light dawns for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart.”
Surrounding darkness
Evil’s world abounds
Life’s hesitation
Sinful, barking sounds
Playing with evil
Like kitchen’s hot stove
Waiting to burn us
Consuming faith’s grove
Hearing Father’s Word
Explicit warning
Hate evil, love God
Righteous good morning
Evil’s deception
Ignore its calling
Turning from darkness
Sinful flesh falling
Life’s new page opens
His goodness unfolds
Sprinting to daylight
Safe in God’s stronghold
From the words of American pastor and Christian teacher, Charles Stanley: “When we learn to hate evil, we learn to love what God loves.”
From Daniel 12:1-3: “At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”
Darkness invades man’s world
Painful times filled with loss
Perilous tragedies
Yet, hope calls from one Cross
Shattering brokenness
Heartache knowing no end
Grieving trauma scalds hearts
Yet, hope shall never bend
Prophets carry message
Few bothering to hear
Lasting shame and contempt
Yet, hope’s time coming near
God’s promises hold truth
Times of anguish shall fade
Deliverance knocking
Hope in darkness, now paid
From Isaiah 9:6: “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
From Psalm 31:9-10: “Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also. For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away.”
Feeling earth’s numbing cold
Facing each new trial
Life’s winter darkness stirs
Filling another mile
Witnessing grief and loss
Traversing heavy snow
Life’s winter darkness stands
Causing impulse to slow
Prowling disease and strife
Reading storm’s latest news
Life’s winter darkness shouts
Raging snow sings the blues
Plodding in Arctic’s chill
Crushing social unrest
Life’s winter darkness tests
Failing every quest
Viewing world’s upheaval
Blinding blizzard’s whiteout
Life’s winter darkness runs
Bulldozing faith with doubt
Guiding light now arrives
Accepting Father’s grace
Life’s winter darkness fades
Walking in Spirit’s place
From James 4:5-6: “Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, ‘God yearns jealously for the spirit that He has made to dwell in us’? But He gives all the more grace; therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'”
Where there’s hope, there’s life.
Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.
Clouds of war, envelope life
Humanity’s endless strife
Fog of war, shrouding landscape
Breathing despair, no escape
Darkness of war, days collapse
Lost in night’s maze, without maps
Scars of war, covering earth
Global peace missing its berth
Children of war, empty hope
Tender hands without faith’s rope
Wounds of war, shall never heal
Hope travels on broken wheels
Horrors of war, drained faces
Exhausted lives, gloom races
Refugees of war, wonder
Dreams, hopes, and lives plowed under
Terror of war, raging on
Tomorrow’s forgotten dawn
Faces of war, children grieve
Life robbed by battlefield’s thieves
Future of war, never ends
Talks of peace, no dividends
Hopelessness of war, cries out
When will blossoms of peace sprout?
From Jeremiah 31:8: “See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here.”
Filling life with darkness
Wandering, defeated
Residing in exile
Forfeiting, depleted
Hearing distant trumpet
Sending invitations
Proclaiming Good News
Gathering each nation
Calling to faithfulness
Extending Holy hand
Leading us with promise
Witnessing God’s command
Sustaining light ahead
Proclaiming Father’s might
Returning from exile
Forsaking former plight
Accepting Lord’s mercy
Praising His love and grace
Walking in step with God
Tasting life’s Holy place
From Jeremiah 31:7: “For thus says the Lord: Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘Save, O Lord, your people, the remnant of Israel.'”
Big Sky Buckeye 