Fresh wounds and invisible dog tags
mark us as soldiers of the cross.
Yet we haven’t always understood
the war we signed up for.
Suffering is a word we would rather
forget how to spell.
Lord, you know this well.
We love you and like Peter
we swear to sacrifice our lives
except that death and dying hurts
even when it is
the crushing death
of dreams.
It seems you offer us life eternal
and internally, we calculate
a journey heavenward
without despair or pain
or persecution.
Still. Darkness fights
to extinguish our Light,
the prickly promise of thorns
is everywhere
and the wilderness
is a given.
Why else would you promise
to make a way through it?
A paradigm shift is needed, Lord.
Help us beat the Enemy
into full retreat.
Help our hearts embrace—
not the suffering,
but you in the midst of it.
Help us celebrate
the opportunity to see
your grace and glory
revealed.
1 Peter 4:12–16, 5:6–11