[As we approach (hopefully) the end of the pandemic, this poem seems more than appropriate.]
God,
It is drastically important that the pain of this past year is not wasted.
How tragic it would be to suffer so much and gain so little.
What I must learn in my pain is that it is always leading to something
far beyond what I can see in the shadows.
I must learn that you are not reckless or careless or cruel.
You are for me, and always in some way, at some time there is Your “nevertheless afterward.”
I must learn that there is never a moment when You are not worthy of praise.
Bad things happen but there is only goodness in You.
I must learn that when my heart is broken You are able to break my impatience,
my pride, my carelessness and selfishness.
All of this I must learn. O God, teach me well . . . teach me well.
It is drastically important that the pain is not wasted.
That I draw heavily upon Your unfathomable love.
At such times I implore Your transforming peace.
At such times I live by the power and promises of a Father
who cares infinitely more than I can begin to grasp or comprehend.
Today, dear God, is a “such time.”
Ruth Harms Calkin, Lord, Don’t You Love Me Anymore?
c1988, Tyndale House Publishers