49 lines
1.2 KiB
Plaintext
49 lines
1.2 KiB
Plaintext
## 86:5
|
|
%% 5
|
|
> Ready To Forgive
|
|
>> For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, abundant in lovingkindness to all those who call on you.
|
|
|
|
Occasion: When shame keeps me away
|
|
|
|
My hand is on the knob, Lord,
|
|
and I do not go in.
|
|
I think of what I have done,
|
|
and the old heat rises in my face.
|
|
|
|
I know You already see it all,
|
|
yet I am still ashamed to be seen.
|
|
Part of me believes I should wait
|
|
until I feel less dismayed,
|
|
until I can come to You
|
|
with something better than this.
|
|
But I have nothing better.
|
|
I only have the truth.
|
|
|
|
Come close to me at this door.
|
|
Teach me the difference between shame and repentance.
|
|
One keeps me self-absorbed.
|
|
One brings me to You.
|
|
|
|
I know the pull of staying hidden.
|
|
Without prayer.
|
|
Without light.
|
|
Just the same thoughts going round and round.
|
|
|
|
And the longer I stay here,
|
|
the harder it is to believe I may enter.
|
|
I begin to mistake hiding for humility
|
|
and silence for sorrow.
|
|
|
|
But You are there before I speak.
|
|
Open what I have shut.
|
|
Give me courage to admit plainly what I have done
|
|
and to trust Your lovingkindness more than my shame.
|
|
Bring me inside,
|
|
not as a stranger,
|
|
but as one who called and was heard.
|
|
|
|
Not sneaking in the back, Lord.
|
|
Bring me boldly through Your front door.
|
|
|
|
Amen.
|