SIX ACHES OF THE SOUL
February 9, 2021
A frustrating world, the first kind of ache,
Earthquakes, annoyances, and another headache.
Would we turn to God if this world was ideal?
The God of redemption is found in life’s ordeal!
The pain of bad choices, the second kind of ache,
Consequences felt from my own mistakes.
We reap what we sow, says Paul in Galatians,
Learning to say “No” to any more temptations.
Others’ bad choices, the third kind of ache,
The pain of heartache, the pain of heartbreak.
To resent or forgive, a choice we all face,
But more! The chance to reflect God’s amazing grace.
The monster of grief, the fourth kind of ache,
Masquerades in many masks, our souls it will shake.
Crocodile tears? Or a haunting stark numbness?
An inconsolable ache, immersed in sadness.
A hunger for God, the fifth kind of ache!
Realizing that my thirst, nothing else can slake!
All other loves will grow in their depth,
When love for God is my soul’s first breath!
A hunger for heaven, the sixth kind of ache!
With us through life; not lost ‘til heaven’s daybreak.
Restlessness we can’t shake; through all of life we roam,
We are in exile, until we’re finally home!
EPILOGUE:
Every day there’s at least a trio of aches, (#’s 1, 5, 6)
Felt as a sigh or a deeply groaned quake.
Any mix of the six, we just say, “My heart aches,”
But numbers five and six are good for our sakes!
Aches one, five and six, will not “go away.”
They build eagerness and hope; it’s joy’s hard pathway.
They’re gifts for our soul! Gaining new bearings with God,
And help us deal with two, three and four on this sod.
Aches two and three are sins’ albatross,
Brokenness, humility, the way of the cross.
While ache number four is the fiercest of all,
Seek Me and find Me through your heart-broken call.
-Seth