TBT: What is God to You?

What is God to me?

He is a Father filled with unconditional love;

A Holy Entity who lives up above;

A Friend on whom I can always depend;

Someone who will be with me until the end;

A safe place to rest in the raging storm;

A sense of peace, being safe and warm;

My shepherd who will guide me down the right path;

A protector who will give all that He hath;

A wise, almighty Being who always knows what to do;

My commander to whom I will always be true.

Now, I ask a question:

What is God to you?

Background:

Based on the date listed for this poem being finished and recorded in my book, this is the last piece written before I had my back surgery a couple months later. There is a gradual shift after this, after the surgery and as I finish middle school and enter high school. My writing gets darker, more questioning, more painful.

These types of experiences are by no means unique to me - I pray that, whatever your dances with sorrow or pain, that maybe a version of your past self will find solace or companionship in hearing the voice of my past self and knowing that neither of us were truly alone, regardless of what our hearts might have told us.

Also, I find it interesting that this was the last poem before that pivotal experience - a poem that highlights who God is, that He “will be with me until the end” and is “a safe place to rest in the raging storm.” This seems provisional, one of those countless instances where God allows or guides something to occur at just the right time. I needed to remind myself of who God was and is to me, because I was entering a time in my life when I would be deeply shaken by several years of questioning everything that I had been taught and had believed in until that point, including God and His character.

Lord, carry us through the dark places. Help us take one step at a time and strain to hear hope’s song through the cacophonies of life.

Wishing you goodness without end,

Jess