I wanted security, and You gave me chaos,
Wanted esteem, and You let me know shame.
I wanted success, and You handed me failure,
Wanted Your pleasure and drank of Your pain.
I wanted simplicity, and You gave me troubles,
Wanted grandeur and was brought to nothing.
I wanted approval, and You handed me rejection,
Wanted Your blessing and tasted Your suffering.
So I packed my frustration and all my complaints
Into two giant burlap sacks.
One I named “Bitterness” and the other “Disappointment”
And heaved them upon my back.
Thus I began my journey to You,
Because I needed an answer, You see,
For all of the things You’d promised me once,
And failed to deliver to me.
But the loads, they grew heavy with each passing day,
'Til I fumed with fury and hate;
And I moaned and I wept and I stumbled at last
Beneath their unbearable weight.
I looked at these bags, laden with trials,
And deep in my soul I knew,
That I could not carry, nor change, nor fight them;
There was but one thing left to do.
I reached both arms, fierce as I dared,
And I hugged them to my breast.
Then I heaved and hauled and wrenched until
I’d wrestled them into my chest.
I cried to the heavens, “I embrace these trials!
I welcome them full unto me.
Let them now work Your will in my life
So that I may be more like Thee!”
The trials spilled over, into my lap
Each of them laid before me.
And as I sat and stared anew,
Suddenly I saw them most clearly.
I wanted comfort, and You gave me character,
Wanted completion, and You gave me patience.
I wanted glory, and You gave me humility,
Wanted Your promise, and You gave me Your presence.
I wanted ease, and You gave me strength,
Wanted cheap idols, and You offered me wealth.
I wanted garbage, and You gave me riches,
Wanted Your gifts, and You gave me Yourself.
I laughed and I danced and I started to sing,
For the treasures I held in my lap!
Then I looked back and forth and finally found
My two giant burlap sacks.
And the names on the bags were rewritten,
For God had seen fit to destroy
Both “Bitterness” and “Disappointment,”
And to name them “Steadfastness” and “Joy.”
I fell to my knees and worshiped and cried,
“Oh God, all along You knew—
That deep in my heart from the very beginning,
All I really wanted was You.”
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