2 Kings 7:3-11

there is no relief for them
they who see the world behind bars, wearing skin like chains
a thousand tears for every scar
the world has forsaken them 

so as these four stand at the entrance to the city, to them but a gate separating hell
from hell, one question is echoed
Why stay here until we die? 

There is death everywhere
It leaks from broken skin to city gates that have been gripped by bony hands, failed by famine
there is no relief (when hellfire feeds on your flesh everyday)
there is no relief (when burying the dead is just a routine)
there is no relief 

so let's go over to the enemy and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die. 

in the dusk
four lepers wander through the enemy camp
in no state of defense, eyes weak and feet weary,
ready to fall at the enemy's feet 

are instead met with the aftermath of a great Victory
met with food that filled their empty stomachs
clothes that replaced rags
gold and silver; riches beyond what they could ever imagine 

and in the dead of the night
their hearts sang,
leaking back to city gates that were gripped by bony hands,
leaking back to people just like them 

to the forgotten, the broken, the rejected 

Here is good news 

** 
 

how did i stumble upon the impossible?
sitting still in the darkness, just
fine
fine as dead, lusting after shadows
consumed, scattering into dust while satan teaches me to smile as my soul breaks, breaks, breaks.....
when everything hurts, what's the point anymore? i've already sinned so much
let me just surrender to the enemy 
 

you.
how many splintering fields of glass did you have to walk through, before you found me?
how much of the darkness did you have to wade through to find my hand?
because i don't know what light feels like
not this light
they've lied to me before, the shadows
giving me the fluorescent and the fleeting, filling me then watching me bleed it all away, again
until my tears turned dry 

but you found me
here in my darkest hour and instead of the blow i expected you showed me
the blows you took for me,
the blood you shed for me,
the life you gave for me
AND OH HOW I DIED IN YOUR MERCY and melted in your gaze, surrendered instead this life to you in disbelief of the new life
you'd been trying to give me 

And to this day my soul crumples underneath the weight of this grace I can't explain,
a God who met me when i wandered the enemy's camp
showing me the Victory He had already won
giving me the treasure of Jesus Christ,
who is my love
and my life
and my story. 

good news
Jesus came for sinners
good news
He uses what's broken to create a masterpiece
good news
He's starting with you. and me.
what's your story?