palmofyourhand

I put my trust in You
I live in Your light, despite the shadows of these giants
and Your blood cleanses me of all sin.
I’ll never be disgraced for putting my trust in You.

my faith

I wait – in faith – because there’s weight in faith,
evidence of unshakeable foundations

reframe it.
reframe me!

I believe! help my unbelief!
help me to exercise what you’ve placed within
help me to overcome
break-through in me.

I can’t see how everything is going to be brought together
and I feel my sin and error distances me
from the safety and protection of the palm of Your hand.

reframe it.
reframe me!

Your blood was shed for my sin.
You understand my weakness.
I love You!
break-through in me!

© Mark Bryant. November 6th, 2019.

#MightyPoets
#MentalHealth
#Depression
#Anxiety
#overcome
#reframeit
#shadowsofthesegiants
#palmofyourhand

Romans 10:11 New Living Translation (NLT)

11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”

Hebrews 11:1 New Living Translation (NLT)

1 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.

1 John 1:7 New Living Translation (NLT)

7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

I’m a child of God
…but I don’t feel like one.
I’m a child of God
…but I don’t ‘act’ like a good son.
I’m a child of God
…but I don’t like discipline.
I’m a child of God
…but I find it hard to listen.
I’m a child of God
…but I’m swayed by endorphins.
I’m a child of God
…but difficult time’s orphan.

I’m a child of God
…AND nothing will ever change that.
I’m a child of God
…AND nothing pins my shoulders to the mat.
I’m a child of God
… AND I’m held in the palm of His hand.
I’m a child of God
…AND no weapon formed against me will stand.
I’m a child of God
…AND I have a room in His eternal home.
I’m a child of God
…AND when I’m spineless, He’s my backbone.

© Mark Bryant 6th September, 2019

#MightyPoets
#MentalHealth
#Depression
#Anxiety
#overcome
#difficulttimes
#palmofyourhand

Psalm 139:13-18
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvellous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

Ephesians 3:14-19
When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

1 John 3:1-2
See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.

I need wisdom. I really do!
And refuge!
And safety!
I’m finding it so hard
to release my fears and doubt
and just trust -
Simply trust.

You’ve got it all worked out
when I just see it as fucked,
because I just see
the consequences and predicament -
the current circumstances -
and I find it hard to trust -
Simply trust.

I want you to write redemption
in these difficult times
but I’m scared.
I’m scared that you don’t care
or that you’re making things hard to spite me.
I’m most scared of my flailing accusations
and hurtful words.
I’m finding it hard to trust -
Simply trust.

In my spirit, I believe you’re working good
in this all for everyone,
but I’m tired.
I need you to break through in me,
hold me in the palm of your hand -
even as I find it so hard to trust -
Simply trust.

© Mark Bryant 29 August, 2019

#MightyPoets
#MentalHealth
#Depression
#Anxiety
#overcome
#writingredemption
#difficulttimes
#palmofyourhand

Psalm 91:2
This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.

James 1:5
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

The waves keep rocking my boat
– swamping it –
and it doesn’t feel like I’m held
safe, in the palm of your hand.

I even get tired of writing my thoughts down
because they betray me
and reveal my imperfections.
I find it hard to trust
and I give into temptation too easily.

Maybe these words will be a dull reflection
of your perfect work of writing redemption?

Right now, I need some encouragement.

I’m pushed and pulled by waves,
liquid fists that appear to
grasp,
crush,
and throw away.
But the ocean
can’t grasp.
can’t crush.
can’t throw.

It wraps its hands around me,
and though I feel the bruising pressure,
the harder it grasps,
the less grip it has.
It can’t overwhelm me.

Something solid has me
in the middle of the boat,
in the middle of the storm.
Something is holding me steadfast,
like a lighthouse weathering a force 12 storm.

Waves like mountains crash against it
but it patiently endures.
No storm will ever be the end of it.
It will provide its beacon of light and hope
for generations to come.

© Mark Bryant 26 August, 2019

#MightyPoets
#MentalHealth
#Depression
#Anxiety
#overcome
#writingredemption
#palmofyourhand

James 1:2-4,12
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

All the things I write
are a testimony to this journey.
Thoughts, feelings, unjust dealings
and hopefully – at times – the golden words of wisdom
that come from you.

Perhaps I’ll look back and see the ebb and flow
- the weave of feelings, honest conversations,
and the life-giving Word of God,
writing redemption in the mess.

I’m still afraid of being completely honest
because I fear wrath,
and I know I’ll be the one found in the wrong.

But Jesus – who always remains the same – loves me
and asks me to cast my cares upon Him,
so as best as I can, I do.

I ask the questions borne out of pain.
I try to have the honest conversations
that will bring life and healing.

That these words I write would be a glorious testimony
how God brought us through the most difficult times
held safe in the palm of his hand.
With lessons learned well
and perfect truth becoming old-school rhymes.

© Mark Bryant 17 August, 2019

#MightyPoets
#MentalHealth
#Depression
#Anxiety
#overcome
#difficulttimes
#writingredemption
#palmofyourhand
#learnitwell
#oldschoolrhymes

Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Habakkuk 2:1-2
I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how he will answer my complaint. Then the Lord said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.

Isaiah 40:8
The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”

Proverbs 3:1-3
My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.

[part 1]
When half your life has seen nothing but strife
and the few times you had hope, it was severed with a knife –
would you dare to dream again?

When finally the purpose has come to pass
and now you have an overflowing glass –
would you care to dream again?

When you know that there are tough times ahead,
but they no longer cause you dread –
are you repaired to dream again?

When you finally understood God’s plan
of writing redemption in the sand –
would you share your dream again?

When your testimony is to forget
and be made fruitful, with no regret –
are you prepared to dream again?

[part 2]
In my pain and in my sorrow –
when I just need to survive until tomorrow –
will I dare to dream again?

[part 3]
The curve-balls are coming thick and fast
and I don’t know how long I can last –
will I dare to dream again?

I’m losing hope in the desert sands.
Am I still being held in the palm of your hands?
Please, help me to dream again!

© Mark Bryant 5 August 2019

#MightyPoets
#MentalHealth
#Depression
#Anxiety
#overcome
#writingredemption
#palmofyourhand

Genesis 41:50-52
During this time, before the first of the famine years, two sons were born to Joseph and his wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On. Joseph named his older son Manasseh, for he said, “God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father’s family.” Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said, “God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief.”

Being still…
resting in your sweet embrace.
Wash the stress and strain from my face,
as I’m shadowed in the valley of these hills.

Being still…
yet committing each day to you, oh, Lord.
May my imperfect innocence shine like the dawn.
You’ve paid my legal bill.

Being still…
the tension between action that will betray me,
and fatalistic inaction that’s just me being lazy.
Perfect submission of will.

Being still…
when I can’t see how you’re writing redemption
and I’m waiting (im)patiently in a source of detention.
At times, I still feel the chill.

Being still…
trusting that in famine, you still will provide
and as a shepherd, you lead and guide.
No predators will kill.

Being still…
putting my hopes in the palm of his hand
as he leads me towards the promised land.
Finding shelter in His skill.
Being still…

© Mark Bryant 2 August 2019

#MightyPoets
#MentalHealth
#Depression
#Anxiety
#overcome
#writingredemption
#palmofyourhand

Psalm 37:7 (but bits and pieces from the entire chapter)
Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.

Psalm 46:10
“Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honoured by every nation. I will be honoured throughout the world.”

What a Monster of a Month!
Major consequences froM ‘Minor’ [juvenile] interactions.
Mercy seeMs forgotten,
and the blaMe gaMe siMMers beneath the surface.

In this, I reach out to the One
who has the Mighty power to do iMMeasurably More
than anything I could ask or think.

Even as 2 or 3 gather, you are there aMidst.
You bind us together,
and what we agree upon will becoMe reality.
Perhaps in unexpected ways,
as our spirit and Mind and heart
is changed to More align with yours.

We long for justice and Mercy.
What happens when the other caMp
is asking for the saMe?

There is a battle taking place
in the palM of your hand.
We want you to write redeMption over it.
As Much as I’d like the situation to change –
and the consequences to be rearranged –
help Me to trust in You,
and the redeMptive work you can do.

Please, do it soon! Don’t delay,
so no-one loses their way.

© Mark Bryant 31 July 2019

#MightyPoets
#MentalHealth
#Depression
#Anxiety
#overcome
#palmofyourhand
#writingredemption

Ephesians 3:20-21
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Matthew 18:19-20
“I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”

A testimony or trusting towards
the already / not yet.
Do I sing because of strength shown,
or does supernatural strength lead me to sing?

Victory or vengeance?
Is it a battle of revenge or redemption?
God working good into bad,
because God is good!?

We love you.
We suffer because of the consequences of sin –
sometimes as innocent bystanders,
but we’re still not blameless.

I have some hope.
I am trusting towards
the future glory that God can bring
into our present darkness
and will bring, at our eternal home.

For now – for today – give me strength.
Hope. Joy.  The ability to stand –
as you’re writing redemption –
shown in the scars on the palm of your hand.

© Mark Bryant 30 July 2019

#MightyPoets
#MentalHealth
#Depression
#Anxiety
#overcome
#palmofyourhand
#writingredemption

Isaiah 12:2
See, God has come to save me.
I will trust in him and not be afraid.
The Lord God is my strength and my song;
he has given me victory.

Romans 8:28
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

forgiveness AND justice.
underserved AND deserved.
confession AND condemnation.
cleansing AND incriminating.

the Almighty’s Noble Death
cancelled the All eNcompassing Debt,
and his Altruism Now Disbands
the Administration Neutrality Demands.

perfection is met in him.
he paid the price for our sin.
please fill us with the righteousness AND love
that only descends from above.

to forgive when we confess.
to remove the stain AND cleanse.
to rejoice when the truth wins out.
to always hope AND not succumb to doubt.
to endure through every circumstance.
to now AND always be held in the palm of your hands.

© Mark Bryant 29 July 2019

#MightyPoets
#MentalHealth
#Depression
#Anxiety
#overcome
#palmofyourhand

1 John 1:9
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

1 Corinthians 13:6-7
It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.