One Lone Flower

 I walked along life’s dusty road

On dry and rocky sod,

 The heat of desert scorched my brow

As step-by-step I trod.

It was not my desired lot

To follow down this path—

A sullen, lonely, barren vale—

To find what e’re it hath.

My heart called to the mountaintops

Where life and joy abode,

T’was there where laughter filled my mouth;

Rich blessings He bestowed.

He said He’d take me to the heights

If I but followed Him,

Yet, here I stood quite far from where

He’d promised to me then.

Away from every climbing steep

And going further down,

My tears descended like the path

That seemed to run aground.

“This is not right!” I protested,

“I don’t deserve this vale!

I want the golden heights, sublime,

Not desert!” I bewailed.

 Then, in the corner of my eye

I caught a glimpse of gold,

A tiny spark of hope and love,

That held a joy untold.

T’was but a little flower standing

Strong, though all alone,

It seemed to sing the sweetest tune

Of faith serenely shown.

I listened, captive by its voice

That echoed in my heart;

What words of yielded, loyalty

No other could impart!

Then, rising from my seat of gloom,

I lifted up my gaze

And looked unto the hills, from whence

My Help shown bright, ablaze.

In trusting, yielded tenderness

My heart but overflowed

With that same sweetness as displayed

Through what a flower owed.

“Behold me, now, dear Lord,” I prayed,

“Thy humble handmaiden,

Though, here my lot is but to pass

Through this land, so barren,

“I sweetly trust Thy will for me,

E’en though it dreary seems,

For You have promised, You will do,

And this is best for me.

“So, take me now, Thy little flower,

 And may Thy grace I employ,

Sparkle Thy love and peace through me;
I am ‘Acceptance-with-Joy’.”

Copyright © Elisabeth Linzey 2015