Still

Never before did I know what it meant to have my heart exposed.
Envelop, protect it; but let it blossom.

Bitterness is easy to find, I know this to be true.
Sweeten, refine, purify my heart.
Soften it to absorb everything, and still, remain buoyant.

To be grateful for good hardly requires effort.
To find gratitude amid wringing of the heart is where love and faith mature.

Without difficulty and desperation, how would any great measure of His faithfulness be known?

Still, it challenges me.
Heartaches change - new anxieties replace former doubts resolved.
Perfection has not found me.
Endurance, however, is mine; and He will provide and prove faithful over again.

Joy IS to be found.
Even happiness for the moment.
For every time I lay my head, and every time I wake, He is still with me!