The woods were floating
With song.
The light winked out at the trees
Burning in my soul

I felt my faith burst to life the same way a spark lights a fire,
Then just as easy as it was ignited
The icy breeze of doubt suffocated the spark of my heart

I was hopelessly lost in the dark
I floundered and fell

I felt like a rock in river,
Jutting up from the water,
Interrupting the current.

I felt like I didn’t belong, in Your sea of believers,
That I wasn’t clean enough to be of Your grace.

But Your waters eroded my harsh edges
And softened me to You.

I could live in the roaring water of Your love,
I could finally breathe with my head underneath Your waves.

My soul was a raging fire,
The eyes of the demons that haunted me
Glittered in the unknown.
Each pair of eyes, a question I knew not the answer to,
Prodding at my beliefs like iron in dying coals,
My mind would flicker to and fro
To and fro

Eventually I no longer had to look anywhere
I gazed down upon my dying embers of faith and saw a demon's eyes staring back at me

My face broke the surface of Your love,
And my lungs gulped in
The course air of doubt.

I left Your depths for the shallows,
Still there,
But no longer welcoming Your currents
Coursing around me.

The wind of voices telling me to leave You was strong,
And chilled my still damp skin,
Fresh from Your loving waves.
It made me shiver to hear them,
And long to be dry
And away from You, like them.
Washed up on the beach and alone.

The sharp stones on the shore away from You cut my feet, and I became calloused.
The only memory of You, was the drops of water still on my scalp.

I felt You stir my ashes
I felt the world stand still as Your breath coaxed fire from my coals
I felt the release of the wood pinning me down begin to kindle

I was reborn into fire
All that pushed and held me down now burned in my redemption
I watched as my light blew back darkness
I watched as my tormenters fled in awe of Your glory

I made a vow to let my light shine
It was good.

The air surrounding me became hot,
It burned wherever it touched,
And humidity clung to me,
Thick and sticky as molasses,
Choking my breaths
And ripping at my face.
I would watch Your waters for weeks,
Wishing to go home to You,
And tormenting myself with the idea that I couldn’t.

Then I watched Your Son sink into Your depths,
And the water glistened gold.
More desirable than any life I could lead away from You.

I dipped my fingers back into Your river
And You welcomed me.
You brushed the sands that had encased my body
Off of me and made me clean.
You healed the bruised parts of my heart,
And led me back home.
It was good.

*Saved, fire can burn upon water and water remain fluid in flame
No torrent of water will douse Your flame
No inferno will ever evaporate Your waters

You’re a gentle stream,
And a roaring fire.
You’re an army of crashing waves sweeping me from my feet,
And a gentle, crackling, dancing, light. Warmth filling the cold,
Your love is a hearth for me to rest at,
And an ocean to rage against evil.

Our shared relationship is fire and water.
Passion and tenderness
Love and love.
Though I stray from You,
You relight my flame,
And wash me of my wrongs.
You hold me close, and call me Yours,

You are Passion and Tenderness,
Awing and unchanging.
Love and love.
Love and love.
Love and love.
We mingle together to create
Peace
Tranquility and
Grace