Call and Response

I believe You hovered over the waters.

I believe You are I AM.
You speak and it is.
The Word Omnipotent.

I believe You knew,
And You knelt in the dust
And formed us anyway
In love.

I believe we had one tree,
One rule, one opportunity
To obey or disobey

In the middle of relational paradise.

I believe You answered Job
Out of a whirlwind.

I believe You taught Noah
How to build an ark in the desert.
You broke open the canopies.
You felt grief at the evil in man.

I believe You called Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob

You walked with them,
And wrestled with them,
To make them Yours.

I believe You delivered Joseph,
And delivered many through him.

I believe You rescued Moses,
And rescued many through him.

I believe You smote Egypt
To be known by Egypt,
You parted the great waters
To deliver the humble
And to punish the proud.

You buried Moses,
You Yourself,
In an unknown grave.

You met Gideon in the winepress.
You heard Jonah from a fish belly,
And convicted him with a worm.
You heard Hannah
And caused Samuel to hear You.
You held Saul accountable,
And walked with David in grace,

You honored Bathsheeba by Solomon.

You split the kingdom
To render justice,
But you tarried with them
Unto restoration

You led them at home.
When they didn’t listen,
You led them in exile,
But You always sought them,
Spoke to them,

As Your possession.

You called Cyrus
An eagle from Persia
To be Your instrument

To restore Your people.

You wrote Rahab and Ruth
Into Your DNA.

God Infinite-
You became flesh.
Life Eternal-
You experienced death:
Messy, excruciating, alienating.

The Word Incarnate.
You walked with man
As You’ve always done
But in the humility of a body
You broke bread.
You shared wine.
Blinkless God
Slept.

You felt the constant company
Of deceitful betrayal.

You loved,
And having loved,
Loved to the end.

You made a way
Where there was no way
For us to be whole in Your sight,
For grief to give way to joy.
It is finished.

You are finishing it up,
Summing all things up in Yourself,
Collecting Your remaining treasures,

So we may live
And breathe and move
And have our being
In the light of Your radiance
Forever loved and near to You

For all eternity onward.

I believe You.
I believe it all.

And the devil may trick me,
And evil may abuse me,
And I may doubt me,
And I may waste me,

But You cannot be other,
Or less,
Than all You are.

You are All in All:
God Most Beautiful,
Most Holy,
Most Wise,
Most Wonderful,
Most Kind:

God Most High.

I believe You,
Because You are the highest Truth.

Everything else
Is polluted by lies,

But You shine
Pure Light,
Pure Life,
Pure Love.

I believe You.
I believe it all.

And I’m so glad You Are.