Hello All,
The
part of the poem that we will be emphasising on today is highlighted in blue. The black colour text in the poem is a recap
of what we have already done last week.
Let us now continue our journey with the third episode of this poem…
The Rough and Broken Road (Episode 3)
By
Joanne Liaw Sook Ling (10th September 2014)
The rough road that lies
before me is uncertain
The future stays hidden;
it’s veiled by a curtain
If only I could clearly
see what lies ahead
But all my eyes perceive
is a thick fog instead
I glanced behind at the
broken road I’ve travelled
Painful wounds from the
journey have left me shattered
‘Oh Lord, please give me
endurance to carry on
Soothe my aching feet
for the journey has been long’
‘Help me now to put the
broken road behind me
Beyond the
disappointments, lift my eyes to see
Your purpose in putting
me through the trials and pain
For Your refining fire
has brought me much gain’
‘Although I cannot see
what lies ahead of me
I trust in Your love,
providence and sovereignty
Jesus, may Your rod and
staff lead me safely through
The darkest valleys when
I know not what to do’
As I trudged along the rough and
perilous road
My legs gave way; I fell under the
heavy load
My eyes brimmed with tears of
anguish and agony
I was too weary to continue this
journey
‘Hey, are you alright?’ I heard a
voice behind me
So I turned around and saw Geoffrey
and Jinny
My friends were looking at me with
concern and care
They said, ‘Tell us what’s wrong;
let us your burden share’
So I unslung the bag from my aching
shoulders
I said, ‘My burden has been getting
heavier
With each passing day till I can
take it no more
My poor hands and feet are bleeding,
wounded and sore’
Jinny reached into her pouch and
drew out a vial
‘This balm called, ‘prayer’, your
wounds it will soothe and lull
Let us apply this salve on your feet
and hands
Rest in the Lord till you are strong
enough to stand’
‘Prayer’ was applied
to my wounds every day and night
Till I was strong
enough to continue the fight
Geoffrey lifted up my
weighty bag from the ground
‘This is heavy, how
did you carry this around?’
He chuckled and said,
‘There seem to be many stones
That weighed you down
as you travelled this road alone
Come, let us head off
to a place where you can lay
Your burdensome
stones. Come now, follow me this way’
We came to a serene
bay with quiet waters
The beauty of the
landscape was like no other
My eyes caught sight
of a great, massive rock on land
Geoffrey motioned me,
to come over, with his hands
‘What’s this rock?’ I
asked as I sought to understand
‘This is the Rock of
Jesus on which His Church stands
It is the solid Rock
which our faith is built on
This great Rock stands
firm even when all hope is gone’
I saw many stones of
various shapes and sizes
Inserted and tucked
within the Rock’s recesses
I saw words on them
upon closer inspection
Words like, ‘fear’,
‘grief’, ‘disappointment’ and ‘rejection’
Geoffrey handed my
weighty bag of stones to me
‘Look at your stones
while I take a walk by the sea
I will give you time
to talk to God on your own
Cry and unburden to
Him the words on each stone
You would know what to
do with the stones thereafter’
He whistled gaily as
he left me to ponder
I peered into the sack
and ‘grief’ was my first word
‘Disappointments’ was
my second, ‘fear’ was my third
‘Trauma’, ‘rejection’,
‘hatred’ and ‘unforgiveness’
‘Failures’,
‘hopelessness’, ‘anger’ and ‘bitterness’
Were the other stones
I emptied out of my sack
Tears streamed freely
down my face as I looked back
At the broken trails
of the years left behind me
And the future ahead
with its uncertainties
My eyes turned from
the stones to the Rock before me
Which was much greater
than my stones of agony
‘Dear Jesus,’ I
whispered, under my breath, a prayer
‘Help me to lay down
these heavy stones over here
Enable me to let go of
my painful past
And the fears of my
future which I have amassed
In my predicaments,
shift my gaze to the Tree
On which you suffered
to redeem sinners like me
My sorrows cannot
compare to the agony
And pain you endured
on the Cross of Calvary’
TO BE CONTINUED…
Points for Reflection:
For God alone my soul waits in
silence; from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my
fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
(Psalm
62:1-2 ESV)
·
Grief, disappointments, failures, rejection, trauma, hatred,
unforgiveness, anger, bitterness, fear and hopelessness – Those are the common
stones that many of us pick up and shoulder along life’s journey.
·
Are you going through a period of grief? Who are you grieving for? Does
the sting of death feel too paralyzing for you at this present moment?
·
Have you been disappointed by unmet expectations? Do you find the
failures and rejection in life too hard to swallow? How have disappointments
affected the way you relate to others?
·
Do the memories of traumatic events still haunt you with sleepless
nights?
·
Have you been harbouring unforgiveness, anger and bitterness against
those who have disappointed or hurt you?
·
Have the events of the past given you cause to fear the uncertainties of
the future? Has the weight of life led you to hopelessness?
·
Take a moment to ponder over those stones you are holding in your hands.
·
Then ask yourself, ‘Why am I finding it so hard to let them go?’
·
Shift your gaze from those stones to the Rock of Jesus Christ.
·
No matter how heavy those stones might feel, they can never outweigh the
great love and compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ.
·
He is not a distant God who does not sympathise with us but He understands
how we feel.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to
sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted
as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne
of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
(Hebrews 4:15-16 ESV)
·
No human suffering can be greater than the pain that Christ endured on
the cross to die in our place so that we who believe in Him can be saved from
the eternal flames of hell.
·
If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, when you look at
the cross, remember that your greatest burden of sin has been borne by Jesus.
The penalty of your sins have been cancelled and eternal life is your
guaranteed deposit at the end of the road. Isn’t that a wonderful truth to be
thankful for? Do your little stones feel lighter now?
·
If you have not put your trust in Jesus, I pray that God will open your
heart to receive Him. For the solemn truth is that those who reject Christ have
to bear the penalty of their own sin and eternal damnation awaits them at the
end of the road. Please put your trust in Jesus before it is too late and find
comfort in His love and grace.
