BH Bulletin - Tuesday 23 March 2021

Thought for the Day by Ben Martin (Curate)

​I wish…
This poem is taken from Paul Tripp’s Lent Devotional ‘Journey to the Cross’. I found it really stimulating and hope you will to!
Enjoy!
Ben

I wish I could say I asked you,
But I didn’t.
I wish I could say I reached for you, but it didn’t happen.
I wish I had thought that I needed help,
But my mind was elsewhere.
I wish I had sought your wisdom,
But I saw myself as wise.
I wish I had leaned on you, 
But I thought I was standing up straight.
I wish I had cast myself on your grace,
But in the mirror I looked like someone who didn’t need it.
I wish I’d begun each day with you,
But I was too busy.
I wish I had ended the night with you,
But I was too tired.
I wish I had spent more time in your word,
But I had people to see, places to go.
I wish I had looked ahead to a pathway I couldn’t traverse alone,
But I was too focused on the here and now.
I am older now with more life behind me than in front of me.
I mourn my 
assessments of strength,
my appraisals of wisdom,
tagging myself righteous,
my quest for independence.
I regret the moments lost,
Opportunities gone, 
Dreams now faded.
I would spend my last days
In the cloud of despondency,
beating myself up,
hoping to get back what is forever gone,
if it were not for your grace.
I would not be able to
look up as I
look back.
You went to the cross knowing
every choice I would make,
all that your mercy would need
to cover.
I can be honest about my choices.
I can confess it all,
and I can rest
because your grace is that
thorough
and your love has that much power.
Through the years I have learned
that to find strength to
look back,
I need the grace to
look up.
 
Question to consider… What resonates most with you in the poem and why?
 
Lets these words refresh you as you repent and receive God’s forgiveness…
 
‘Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,  and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you – even Jesus.’                                      

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