Stepping Stones to God

When the day that dawned so sweetly with such buoyant beams of hope
Has been shattered so completely that it seems I cannot cope;
When the fog keeps getting thicker, and depression lurks about;
When the sick keep getting sicker, and I meet with Giant Doubt;
When the gathering clouds above me threaten things that shake the soul;
When the thought comes, “Does God love me? Is He really in control?”—

Then I flee alone to Jesus to secure me in the storm,
For it’s He alone who sees us through the wildest winds of harm:
Though the sunlight may have vanished, and the waves are what I feared,
At His word the waves are banished, at His word the clouds are cleared;
So I’ll trust His word completely, leaving no more room for doubt,
And be resting in Him sweetly while His will is brought about.

For the winds must do His bidding, and the plow is in His hands,
And so many things are fitting, sight unseen, into His plans…
May I then see every trial as a servant sent to me:
May I maximize that mile—or however long it be—
Till the tilling is concluded, and the harrowing is done—
When the weeds have been uprooted, heaven’s seeds will see the sun.

Ah, the Father is not willing to afflict us all in vain,
Though the lesson He’s instilling must be hammered home in pain;
But the blows that seemed the sorest were but those that shaped the stone,
And the strokes that felled the forest cleared the site to set His throne.
So I’ve come to treasure dearly every blessing from the rod,
And my trials are, quite clearly, but the stepping stones to God.