8×10″ pen on paper
June 8, 2012

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Inspired by the following passage from Within and Without by George MacDonald:

Last night, as now, I seemed to speak with Him;
Or was it but my heart that spoke for Him?

“Though mak’st me long,” I said, “therefore wilt give;
My longing is Thy promise, O my God!
If, having sinned, I thus have lost the claim,
Why doth the longing yet remain with me,
And make me bold thus to beseige Thy doors?”

Methought I heard for answer, “Question on.
Hold fast thy need; it is the bond that holds
Thy being yet to Mine. I give it thee,
A hungering and a fainting and a pain,
Yet a God-blessing. Thou art not quite dead
While this pain lives in thee. I bless thee with it.
Better to live in pain than die that death.”

So I will live, and nourish this my pain;
For oft it giveth birth unto a hope
That makes me strong in prayer. He knows it too.
Softly I’ll walk the earth; for it is His,
Not mine to revel in. Content I wait.
A still small voice I cannot but believe,
Says on within: God will reveal Himself.