The Suffering Soul

"For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever with me. I confess my iniquity, I am sorry for my sin. Do not forsake me, O LORD! O my God, be not far from me!" (1)

"For one is approved if, mindful of God, he endures pain while suffering unjustly. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin; no guile was found on his lips. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he trusted to him who judges justly." (2)

"But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (3)

Wood of The Cross

I drag my soul before Your throne:
Tattered by sin and torn by pain;
See my heart heave; hear my soul groan --
Like grinding wood against the grain.

I fix my eyes upon the cross;
You absorb all my pain and grief.
When I bottom and all seems loss,
Your mercy rains healing relief.

Yet, scratched and splintered I remain;
A rough-hewn block of hardened wood.
The sanding will resume again --
But now I'll turn to see the good.

When I see love in sacrifice,
I find the strength to bear the pain;
In my weakness, grace will suffice:
I'm smoothed and polished with the grain!

Look to the Lord in grief and loss;
Love conquers all upon the cross.




(c) Paul Buis, 2000

image (c) Tricia Of The Sacred Wounds Of Jesus, 2000

_________________________
1. Psalm 38:17,18,21
2. 1 Peter 2:19,21-23
3. 2 Corinthians 13:14