Versing into the New Year: Part 2

Today is the second installment of this month’s two-part post. (If you missed Part 1, you can read it here.)

I wrote today’s poem based partly on the much-loved passage in Isaiah 40:28-31. Sometimes we start a journey with passion and focus, but as time goes on and the novelty fades, we lose that energy. Life gets difficult, or just plain tedious, sucking the joy and strength right out of us.

The good news? God never leaves us. He is there to lift us when we fall, carry us when we’re weak, and give us fresh strength. And His strength is always more than enough.

(This poem was originally published in the Fall 2011 edition of The Arrowhead, Catawba College’s literary arts magazine.)

Run and Not Grow Weary

When I run the world whips by
But the road seems no less long, the mountains no less high;
The sky over my head is no less gray than it was before
My feet started pounding on this road that is said to lead to more

My breath comes in short gasps; I can no longer see
For the tiredness that so quickly envelops me
Where is the strength I had when my journey first began?
Now I feel that I can no longer lift my feet to run

That is when Your breeze starts blowing over me
When I raise my voice, Your face is what I see
Your hand is the one that rests upon my shoulder
Your presence is the one that makes me bolder

It is not my own strength that I feel returning to me
It is not the firmness of Earth that I feel beneath me
It is not my own love that is flowing through my veins
It is not my own life that is lifting me up again

What I feel is You supporting me
Your life is mine; Your power makes me free
To live for You, to run this race
So that in the end I will see Your face

Now I have wings I’ve never had before
You’ve given me feet that won’t grow tired anymore
You make me fly; I don’t just run
You make me soar on heights I’ve never dreamed of

You’ve raised me; now I know I can be
A person of integrity
I can run this race and cross the line
With faith that eternity with You will be my prize

I can run and not grow weary
But only if You grant my plea,
Lord, that as I run, I may not run alone
But that You may run with me–
Supporting me