"IN SECRET PLACES"

IN SECRET PLACES

by

Linda J. De Graw

(copyright 1990)

In secret places, deep inside,
I've buried hurts, fears, pain and pride.
I thought they'd stay there, out of the way,
but somehow they keep surfacing today.

Oh LORD, it's not right to feel anger and hate !!
Won't You please HELP ME . . . these feelings abate ???
I've been struggling all day with these unpleasant foes.
They rob me of joy and in its place leave woes.

I'm sick of this see-saw -- ^ELATION/_despair . . .
My soul needs renewing, overhauling and repair !!!
But, I guess I'd like a "magic cure"
so pain and discomfort I won't have to endure.

Yes, You're right, LORD, denial never cures the past --
it just keeps re-surfacing, and again I'm harassed !
But HOW can I put it PERMANENTLY to rest
when its offspring of imps keeps putting me to the test ???

In that dark little corner, over there to the right,
is where I keep "REJECTION" well out of sight.
Yet daily it seems to raise its ugly head
snapping at me from morning 'til bed !

My "FEARS" I keep over there on the shelf,
ignoring them, and trying to encourage myself.
But they keep sliding off and rolling my way --
ever tripping me up so I make no headway.

"GUILT" and "SHAME" are tucked snugly underneath;
but, they too, harass me beyond belief !!
Even though I've confessed all that I can think of
they retort that I've no right to receive any love.

And "THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER"
-- that keeps glaring me in the eye --
is the one I never escape, named Me, Myself & I.
It hounds me incessantly all night and all day
with its "shoulds" and its "oughts" and the debts I can't pay.

But there, well-hidden -- (even from me),
is where the worst tyrant struggles to be free.
With its silent screaming and rattling of cage,
jarring my soul . . . this thing called "RAGE".

And that over there?? No, that's not a lake . . .
it's an ocean of tears -- unshed for "PRIDE's" sake.
Oh, yes, it's an ocean. Real salt you can taste.
Too bad it's so big . . . so much room it does waste.

LORD . . . ? If I were to let You drain that ocean from me --
would that at last from my past set me free ? ? ?
Fountains of Living Water You've promised to give . . .
Oh, LORD -- is THAT what I've needed to learn how to live ???

Then drain this salty marsh, with its muck and its mire,
and give me the Springs of Your Heart's desire !!!
Wash clean those hidden corners of my dark soul . . .
then fill me with Your Spirit 'til I am made whole !!!

It almost seems just too good to be true . . .
But if I let You empty me, You can FILL ME with YOU!
Oh LORD, make haste; let there be no delay !!!
Possess me entirely -- come fill me TODAY !!!

"Am I a God near at hand,"
says the LORD,
"And not a God afar off?
Can anyone hide himself
in secret places,
So I shall not see him?"
says the LORD;
"Do I not
fill
heaven and earth?"
says the LORD.

Jeremiah 23:23, 24 (NKJV)
(emphasis mine)