Need a Friend?

You find yourself feeling empty inside
And you try to cover your pain with your pride
Like the sad clown who paints a smile on his face
And cheers those around him but can never erase
The emptiness that haunts him and taunts him always

You've learned from life that you've got to be tough
You've got to be strong when the going gets rough
You've hardened your heart in self defense
And you're afraid you'll be hurt if you take another chance
But deep inside is a tender child who still longs to dance

You wander through life going nowhere
Sometimes you get weary and just sit and stare
Is there an answer to why you're here?
Are you just meant to suffer and then disappear?
Is there anyone out there who possibly cares?

You've been hurt by so many wrongs
You just can't let go, the pain's been there too long
Disappointment is your closest friend
And loneliness lurks around every bend
If this is life who cares if it ends?

Well, THERE IS someone who cares that you hurt
He knows how it feels to be treated like dirt
He's been put down and hated, criticized and abused
He suffered rejection and betrayal too.

He was stripped of his dignity and stripped of his clothes,
Abandoned by his friends, and seized by his foes,
He's been lonely and weary and hungry and cold,
He never married, he had no one to hold.

"Who in the world would care?" you may say,
Well, his name is Jesus and he's alive today!
He's waiting to hear you call out his name.
He'll fill you with love and heal your shame.

He walked this earth in the body of a man,
So he could really understand
Our hopes, our joys, our fears, our pain,
He felt it all, his loss was our gain.

Call out for grace and mercy too,
And receive the joy that's waiting for you!

Della Smith (c) 2000

Devotional on Patience

(from God's Little Devotional Book)

"Patience is the ability to keep your motor idling when you feel like stripping your gears."

"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." Proverbs 16:32

An old train on a branch line was puffing and creaking slowly through the countryside when suddenly it lurched to a stop. The only passenger in the three-car train rose quickly to his feet and hurried to find the conductor. "Why have we stopped?" he demanded. "I'm a salesman and I have an appointment in less than an hour in the next town. Surely this old train can make it through a pasture!"

The conductor smiled, "Nothing to worry about sir. Just a cow on the tracks. Gotta wait her out." The salesman returned to his seat, fuming and fidgeting until the train began to creep forward again about ten minutes later. It chugged along for a mile or two and then ground to a halt once again.

This time the conductor found the salesman. "Don't worry," he said. "We'll be on our way shortly. It's just a temporary delay." The exasperated salesman asked, "What now? Did we catch up to the cow again?"

What the salesman didn't know was that the schedule for this particular train had been made so as to allow for temporary delays and cows on the track!

The salesman made his appointment, but he was worn to a frazzle by his own frustration and concern.

Allow for delays. You'll enjoy life's journey more.