Land of Goshen

I know now what it means
To rest in the Land of Goshen.
With the hands of God guarding me
And passing plagues around my home
But touching me not.

I’ve been years in Egypt,
Slave to sin, my Pharaoh Satan.
Trapped, wanting out,
But pulled, pulled, pulled back in
Just as the moment ran out.

On the inside,
Looking out, knowing
There is a land that’s promised.
But frightful Pharaoh
Kept me locked,
Closed my blessings out.

And I cursed the blood
And cursed the locusts,
Wondering when my God would bring
His people to his house.

But what all this time
I didn’t see
Was the rainbow promise
arched over me – shielding,
giving boundary to
the Land of Goshen.

I pray to be like Solomon
who in his wisdom knew
that fear of the Lord
begins a track that leads right up to lady wisdom.
If God asked me for what I want
(and I think he did. He does.)
I know my answers not as smart
as Solomon and his.

I pray each day for children
for blessings to be born
I pray for envelopes of freedom
to drop upon my door.
Wrong-mindedness entangles me,
intrudes upon my prayers.
I look to Solomon for schooling
and nod a thanks before I bow again,
and rethink my meditation.

I pray to be like Paul.
He too was a heady soul,
confessing his should and should nots
alongside his did and did nots.
Self condemning and prudent confessing,
he lived my story too
-only more dramatic and dynamic.

Joseph and his shrewdness
Esther and her courage
Job and his endurance
Ruth and her selflessness

These stories stay with me
as I head out the door
facing no real challenge, no real suffering
and I pray a prayer of my own thankfulness
as I jealously yearn for vision and permanence.