Calling back

"If you have gone a little way ahead of me, call back -

'Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track;

And if, perchance, Faith's light is dm, because the oil is low,

Your call will guide my lagging course as wearily I go.

Call back, and tell me that He went with you into the storm;

Call back, and say He kept you when the forest's roots were torn;

That, when the heavens thunder and the earthquake shook the hill,

He bore you up and helped you where the very air was still.

Oh, friend, call back, and tell me for I cannot see your face;

They say it glows with triumph, and our feet bound in the race;

But there are mists between us, and my spirit eyes are dim,

And I cannot see the glory, though I long for word of Him.

But if you'll say He heard you when your prayer was but a cry,

And if you'll say He saw you through the night's sin darkened sky -

If you have gone a little way ahead, oh, friend, call back -

'Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track."

Streams in the Desert, Dec. 19

The thing they don't tell you is that calling back sometimes requires looking back. And looking back reminds us of where we have been. There is still pain there. Even when the storm is over, and the wounds are healed, walking through the storm with someone else still hurts. It might not be your storm - the wind is not as strong, and the rain is not as cold. Perhaps you are even allowed to skip the hail all together. That is why you are there to "call back". To say that it gets better. That HE is listening, HE is still in control, HE is still God.

You wrap your arms around the one you love, or offer your ear, or your shoulder, or a punching bag so they can vent whatever emotions they need to get out.

But you still feel the storm, just a little.

If you really feel the need to know what I am talking about, you can read here. But the feeling is the same, no matter what your storm, no matter what God is telling you to "call back" about. I am a firm believer that absolutely everything bad can be USED for good. Not that God causes bad things - just that he uses them. So, take your bad situations, histories, memories - the things you have overcome - take them all and find someone to encourage. Use the bad, turn it to good.

You have faced your storm, and HE has helped you through.

Now call back to those behind, and cheer a heart.