The Good News

First, the bad news:

The difference between

Who I am and who I want to be

Is eternity. It is impossible.

I know what it is like to stand

At the shore of the Red Sea

Heart wild-eyed as it drowns

In the impossibility of what

It sees ahead, the distance

From here to there. Death.

Panic. Despairing even of life.

I know what it feels like to

Stare deep into the eyes

Of impossible. How those eyes

Make you want to burrow down

Deep into your bed and hide. I know.

But here is the good news:

The distance between who I am

And who I want to be

Isn’t nearly as far as I think.

The same impossible God

Who made the way for Moses

To cross the Red Sea,

He is here. Right now. Fire

In my bones, Spirit in my spirit,

Christ inside of me. Impossible.

And yet, here He is. The same God

Who raises dead people,

Gives barren women children,

Splits seas in half, makes the

Sun stand still, rains down fire,

Gives sight to the blind,

Makes the crippled leap and dance,

And here’s the coup de grace:

Transforms the lump of coal 

We call the human heart

Into a something soft and

Able to be moved.

Able to love. Impossible.

And that’s the good news.

The distance between Point A

And impossible Point B is exactly the width

Of God. His broad back is wide enough

To span the gap. He is the Lord.

There is no distance. 

The distance between

Me and that impossible thing

God is calling me to be or do,

Or give up, or take on:

It’s not distance at all.

Not really. Once God is involved.

I can’t tell you how many times

I’ve stood at the banks of the Red Sea

My enemies hot on my heels,

The sea of impossibility right in my face,

Drowning me in the thickness and weight

Of my fears and doubts, my eyes

Nailed to the simple, bitter reality

Of there, ahead of me, on the other side,

The place I long to be, the place my heart yearns

And wails and weeps to go, so far out of reach

I can’t even begin to count

The miles, the light years. 

So many times it has happened.

And I cry out to God, and I wrestle

With Him, I make pathetic sounds,

I find a quiet place and howl in my soul.

And somehow, suddenly,

My heart crosses over

Even before I do, my heart begins to believe

And it soars high and away,

It crosses over. This is faith.

The miracle. The necessary

Spark that fans into flame:

I somehow believe the impossible

To be possible. This is what God loves.

For His children to say in their hearts:

“I don’t see it, but I believe. With God

All things are possible.”

And when this happens

Watch out. My heart has crossed over

And now all of me is following

I take steps and

Seas split, the ground shudders

In my path, reality bends and bows down

To its master, the Will of God.

Nothing can stand in my way

When faith paves the road for action

In accordance with God’s will

And His Word.

And suddenly I am on

The far shore, the impossible place.

The place I couldn’t see a way to. 

And looking back, I watch the waves crash down

Upon the armies of my fears and doubts.

My enemies are scattered and drowned.

Thunderous waves obliterate their shouts.

And I glory in God, My God,

Who has a mighty hand, who

Lays the smack-down on impossible,

Who retells me afresh, who retells me

Like a story of redemption and grace,

Who erases my ending and writes me

A new one full of victory and glory. 

Who gives me beauty for ashes.

Who bears me up on His shoulders

Like a Father lifts His boy.

God is for me

What I can never be for myself.

He takes me on a world tour of my infirmities

So I can understand my need.

He allows me to bathe in the distance.

He shows me impossible, face to face. 

God will take me into situations

Where I end, so that He

Can begin. This is not strange.

This is not the exception.

This is the mystery, this is

The story, full of God’s passion

And glory. Full of aching color,

Death, rebirth. The strong green

Shoots bursting through

Stone. Resurrection.

This is my life.