When I was really down,
Even my closest friend deserted me,
Starting in the early hours of the morning,
My days went long into the night,
A good night’s sleep was my deepest desire,
But, I wondered if I would ever know rest,
I lay awake fearing the next attack,
Each night a fearful recollection of the lies spoken,
Anticipating the next onslaught of hatred’s stare,
Each day facing the contemptuous glare,
I crumbled under the strain,
My soul bleeding tears of sorrow,
At the betrayal of my trust.

The daily raids of terror,
The barrage of hate words,
Were the favourite weapons,
Unleashed in a daily “friendly” fire,
My life was shattered,
The word shards digging deep,
My life’s cry to God was, “mercy,”
I wanted the pain to go away.

My God, My God, why did I forsake you?
For a while I thought I was my salvation,
I was wrong!
Today my life is a witness to your strength,
I love to see Justice in action,
My voice is no longer silent,
I speak words of Love,
That bring terror to the godless,
My love shows up their selfishness.

The liar’s daily shame is displayed publicly,
Poverty is his selfish lust,
Hunger for money thwarted by God,
His riches are for the poor and broken hearted.
Abundance is my truth,
Life is lived with strength,
Discovering the fullness of Eternity’s love,
My life a witness to the power,
Of restoring, peaceful trust.

Truth will lay our hearts bare,
Evil intentions cloaked in kindness,
Will not be tolerated any more,
Masquerading lies as truth,
Clever words manipulated to destroy,
Are all headed to a fire called Justice.

Strength comes from doing what is right,
Tolerance for vindictiveness is zero.
Love stands up for the broken hearted,
It knows when enough is enough.

From my weakness I have learned to trust only God,
This becomes my strength,
It will leave the vindictive cowards full of shame,
My daily praise will be their disgrace,
Their lies will lead them to despair,
Silence is no longer possible,
Because God’s truth cannot be contained.

My daily praise comes from love filled heart,
I delight every morning in God’s words,
It gives me strength to face the haters,
To love them but to trust God,
My reward is a good night’s sleep,
Blessings that mount up each day,
Hope that is filled by Eternity.

My Version

I cowered under a relentless stream of hate,
Every day new attacks were planned,
My hater sought to destroy my hope,
He would allow no glimmer of joy in my life,
Whenever it appeared he would try to snuff it out,
He wielded destructive power with murderous intent,
Selfishness taken to its limits.

Now, the great reversal has begun,
My life is completely turned around,
I am more prosperous than before,
Daily I celebrate blessing after blessing,
I hold my head high when I see my hater,
His lies are now his shame,
My life lived in constant wonder of God’s justice.

Each morning when I turn my eyes to God,
I listen to his voice and hear him speak to me,
My heart’s desire is filled to the brim,
I gaze on love unleashed – holding nothing back,
Life is full of wonder at how he protected me,
When my hater wanted me dead.

I cried out, “Help!”,
And, Justice intervened,
Contempt was disarmed,
The lies are called stupidity,
Arrogance reduced to shame,
False accusations that no one believes.

Loneliness is the dark place,
Where the hater is believed,
But, I live a completely satisfied life,
With new opportunities emerging each day,
My heart beating with truth,
With a daily life giving rhythm,
My hope is found in listening,
To the truth that beats in perfect time,
Justice and humanity sharing life’s rhythm,
Eternity’s blessings now belong to me.

My life was a discordant cacophony,
My head a jumble of sounds,
Clattering in my thoughts,
A constant deafening noise,
Accusing me of failure,
Words seeking to drown out hope,
That left me wanting to die.

Then I came to the end of my strength,
I cried out enough,
I can’t go on,
Help me.

Love turned his face to me,
He took my hand,
Leading me to a place of rest,
I stopped,
I listened to the sounds of rest,
Its beautiful melody,
Beating in time with my heart’s rhythm.

The noise receded into the background,
Its harsh accusations seen as lies,
Now my life beats in time,
With Eternity’s rhythm,
A melody of endless love.

In the daily struggle from uncertainty to uncertainty,
I couldn’t find anything to satisfy,
Then I heard God speaking,
Truth was hard to hear at first,
It rubbed my broken edges.
Painfully every part of my life,
Was restored by Creation,
Piece by piece I was examined,
Love’s balm was painfully ministered,
So that healing could be completed.

My emaciated soul, starved for too long,
Now I relish Creation’s daily goodness,
Served a banquet of love,
The choice of daily pleasure is made easy.

Sleepless nights belong to haters and bullies,
Each night I rest well and dream good dreams,
I am one eyed in the desires I encourage,
Tough choices lead to a restful life,
My life embraced by Eternity,
Discovering my song sung from the heart,
Truth that resonates deeply within,
Found in every whisper of Eternity,
Life unfolds with more and more opportunity,
Loved completely, living the satisfied life.

In my deepest sorrows,
I heard love’s softest call,
Even when I thought my hope was lost,
Love whispered in my ear,
Words wishing the best for others,
Love that recognises what is hated most,
Fiercely fighting with the tragic gap,
While crying with the broken spirit,

Wounds are daily uncovered,
The result of words that deeply score,
But,wounds begin to heal,
When love’s gift is given,
From new eyes seeking the beauty,
In our broken humanity.

Today brings a settled restlessness,
That calls loudly to my soul,
To seek out my Father’s tasks,
For what I am called to say,
Truth lived faithfully,
Speaks to those who choose to see.

Life lived hopefully,
Eyes seeing with clarity,
Tears shed with longing,
The way our world intended us to be.

Evil intentions surrounded me,
Delighting in creating havoc,
Lies abounding,
But soon my dear enemy,
Will pay hate’s price,
Its true cost will be tallied,
Then paid in full,
My dear enemy will be bankrupted.

A deeply wounded, broken spirit,
Only receives compassion from God,
God’s love protects the broken,
But as the lies abound,
His anger for the poor spirit rises,
He will tally the lies and hate.

Anger wielded by love is truly frightening,
To the lover of lies,
There is no escape from love’s justice,
Contempt confronted by loving anger,
Will quickly melt in its white heat.

From my brokenness I know God’s anger,
But its protection is always welcome,
When I am called to face my dear enemy,
I walk in the strength of my God’s love,
My dear enemy has no chance of victory,
Disarmed by hope, lost to love,
My enemy’s defeat is clear to everyone.

My hater surrounded me with a barrage of words,
Day after day he sharpened his tongue,
Ready to unleash the next onslaught,
When I was down they kept coming,
He took delight in my pain,
Playing with me and looking to inflict more damage.

In the midst of this attack,
I let God’s light shine on my life,
He gave me relief from my hater,
My heart was an open book,
God took a good hard look at me,
Then said, “I love you”.

The hater’s violence,
His word vomit,
The arrogance,
His contempt,
The crushing lies,
Will be confronted by God, head on,
He will be humbled,
God’s protection of his children,
Will stop the hate in its tracks,
Hate is no match for Eternity’s love,
The hater will eat his own vomit,
While I am served a banquet by God.

My Version

I spent too long in the shadows,
Searching my heart for truth,
Seeking to discover the secret to life,
It was a restless life,
A slippery path with no directions,
Guided by lies I sought to believe were truth.

My thoughts were constantly about my failures,
Sleepless night after sleepless night,
Always believing the worst about myself,
Making me think that God had given up on me.

But slowly I have come to realise,
That God is always with me,
He is faithful to his loving promise,
His desire to love me never wavers.

The shadows are still there,
The voice of darkness seeking to scream failure!
God’s light keeps the shadows at bay,
His Voice constantly whispering love words,
Day and night, waking and sleeping,
My dreams are about hope,
My thoughts are about his love for me,
I am living the promised life,
“Rest” is a beautiful place to live.

My Version

My heart longs to return home,
I spent too long wandering aimlessly,
Searching for the answers to my questions,
My heart’s deepest yearnings,
Needing to find rest.

I found the answer,
It was there within me,
When I centred on God,
I learned where rest is,
Aimless wandering wearied my soul,
A God filled life brought discovery,
Each day becoming alive with opportunity.

I love being together at home,
Sharing with my family our love,
Comfortable with each other’s unique ways,
Rest, peace, love, bring true riches,
Aimless wandering turned to fresh purpose,
I bask daily in the sweetness of success.

My Version 

Constant put downs left a decimated life,
They chipped at my soul,
Till everything was taken,
Only a small core remained,
I thought that everything was destroyed,
But, I found the part that they could not touch,
Sheltered from the blows,
By my God who loves me.

I found at my centre a loving heart,
Embracing my most inner parts,
Breathing for me when I was too scared,
Touching me when I felt like a failure,
You did not forget me,
All the time protecting who I am.

Failure is turned to success,
Laughter is given fresh voice,
Mercy takes me to hope,
I see it all now,
Gifts from my Lord,
That are mine for eternity.

My Version

I love to think about God’s goodness to me,
All day every day he is shouting his love,
My heart hears his daily declaration,
Of the words of a proud father,
I know that I am loved.

Today I heard it in the sunrise,
I saw it in the gift of laughter,
Shared meals with lots of talk,
Listening to the sounds of love.

This is the life that has been given to me,
My God created me to enjoy it all,
My thoughts are full of the all that I have,
Understanding every day is an abundance
Each day is stretched by possibility.

My Version

In my ignorance,
I surrounded myself with bitter people,
They pretended to be caring,
But, the token gestures,
Quickly turned to selfishness,
Their love was skin deep,
Promises made were too quickly broken.

Bitterness sucked me into its well,
It was black and clammy,
Seeking to help itself by dripping off me,
When I was completely entwined,
Frantic, seeking to find the way out,
A Voice spoke to me,
He made his way clear to me,
Compassion not bitterness,
Peace not hate,
These come from life’s breath,
His Voice rescued me,
Daily I celebrate my rescue.