If Not For You

To be my age and try to find
the courage to leave fear behind
and do what I’m compelled to do,
would be impossible, Lord, if not for you.

Before you came into my heart,
I used my talents in fits and starts--
a poem here, a story there,
but all the while unaware

That you would live inside of me
and scrub me clean till I could see
that the only thing I’d want to do
is use my gifts to honor you.

Now, beyond anything I could have imagined,
or by my hand have naturally fashioned,
you’ve placed a fire inside my bones.
I feel like Jeremiah, who weeped and moaned

Over the message he was born to bring
to a people who would suffer the sting
of turning their backs on the one true God
Who did not, and will not, spare the rod.

Jeremiah said, “I’m too young.” I say, “I’m too old.”
And besides that, Lord, I’ve never been bold.
So it’s your words, not mine, that must fill the pages,
convict the hearts of people of all ages

To humble themselves and seek your face,
to repent and receive your grace.
And in their turning to understand
that only you can heal our land.

This is the message to which I’m bound:
we’ve become lost, but can be found.
And I know, Lord, that you’ll see this through.
Because I could not do it, if not for you.