"In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus..."--Jeremy Camp

"Your earlier life was narrow and intense, settled around a little sun-spot of experience; then God withdrew His conscious blessings in order to teach you to walk by faith." --Oswald Chambers

Makes me miss the sunspot my early faith was. Yes, I struggled...the blossoming of my desire to know the Lord personally was hard as any growing pains are. The knowledge of one battle strengthening you for the next must be true, cause they just seem to always get harder. Faith shines the brightest in adversity--it's what FAITH IS. It's easy to fall into the routine of subconsciously thinking faith means everything is going okay! But faith blossoms not from anything we can fashion, all when the sick sensation of "not knowing" begins to choke our hope.
It comes down to precious trust.
Do we truly trust Him? Truly with the sleeping childlike trust that would cast our life on the invisable? On the dreaded unknown? Like a child in the protective arms of a father, the dreaded unknown isn't dreaded. It's just unknown...and it's okay! Faith stands upon that rock: Trust. We have faith based on our trust in His love...the knowledge of His love gives us the foothold to cast it all upon Him.

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Hope, sweet hope.
Placed in the world it is lost.
Love is forgotten.
Peace is stolen.
Everything of precious value is cast away.

There is a Fortress,
Love is known and He is warm.
Peace is in the foundations of His Being,
Hope placed in Him gains her reward.

In this Lover, you can fall without fear,
You can speak and He understands,
You can be broken and He will heal,
You can fail and He loves you even still.

You've seen nothing so beautiful,
Never beheld the extrordinary,
You've been deceived in your knowledge of love,
Until you meet Him.
He is beauty, He is romance.
He is sacrifice.
He is selflessness.
He is warmth, joy, rest.
He is unstoppable in His pursuits, and He pursues me.

Give me this One.
Thousands of years cannot define Him.
Universes cannot contain Him.
This One that adores me. This One who calls me by name.
Give me this One.