hardship « Back of the Choir

Your life is full of hardship,tears and pain;

You feel as if you’ve poverty of soul.

It seems your every effort’s been in vain,

And you are nothing more than lump of coal.

A diamond starts as coal that’s under stress,

Amid great heat and pressure over time,

And you are far more precious in egress,

Refined by life’s hot furnace whence you climb.

Who wants a soup with vegetables too coarse?

You’ll want them cooked until they taste just right.

Affliction turns the raw to the main course,

Delicious morsel of the truth and light.

God needs a mighty sword annealed and keen,

One forged from hard affliction rough and mean.

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Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver;

I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

Isaiah 48:10 KJV

It seems right now that things cannot be worse;

The world has turned against you once again.

You wonder if you’ve fallen in a curse,

And where you are is sure not where you’ve been.

The Lord has such big plans for you in store;

He knows exactly what you’re going through.

You will survive this hardship and much more;

One day you’ll understand that this is true.

Do all you can today to remedy

Adversity that seems to block your way.

Have faith that God ere long will set you free;

The storm will pass and lead to brighter day.

Rejoice, my friend! The Lord is guiding you.

The darkness falls away when light breaks through.

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For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD,

plans for welfare and not for evil,

to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

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