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Beauty Through Desolation
By Jen Morishima
© 2005

Don’t look at me.
Just trying to be beautiful in my own eyes
My heart cries out to be heard
But who is listening?
It is just a mumble
And I’m too busy to hear it
My heart cries out to be loved
But who cares, but for a moment

To be known and loved – delighted in, even.
I think it is wishful thinking
My wounds torment me
Lies haunt me
Disappointment disillusion me
Dysfunction oppresses me

I wasn’t saved to live like this
I want to be more than just okay
But I am tired, wounded and alone

Who could love this broken mess of me?

I CAN
I am the God of comfort and mercy
I bring beauty through desolation
Come to me and rest.

Why dwell in pain and suffering when you can dwell in Me?
Why prefer bondage when I have set you free?
Why spend your life preoccupied and busy?
You are important, more than tasks to be done.
Stop listening to the father of lies, Listen to ME!

I have called you to be so much more than you could dream.
You have a glory far more magnificent
None of this is dependent upon your looks, abilities or wounds.
Stop protecting your self-image.
Let me define you
Realize in whose image you really are!

I lift my eyes and see the cross,
Its pain and beauty
Its shame and glory
Its despair and hope
Your death and resurrection
Your beauty through desolation

My heart is captured by You, yet it is not free
Bound by chains of fear and shame.
The leash that ties me, binds me, keeps me at a distance
Its familiar.
For shame has been my covering,

But My Blood has covered you!!

Stop trying to cover your wounded heart and insist you don’t need a savior – a healer.
Your affliction and wounds are nothing to be ashamed of
For they are completing my good and perfect work in you - your transformation – the new creation.
By this, you will boast in your weakness
And in being broken, you will realize that the only thing keeping you together is Me.

Oh the warfare.
Shame calls me back, but You call me forward.
You chased me into darkness to bring me into Your light.
You found me when I didn’t even know I was lost
You remind me that it’s not about my unashamed love for You, but Your unashamed love for me
And I am undone.

Yes…This is the gospel – the good news
I’ve come to heal the brokenhearted
To set the captives free
To set you free

I bring beauty out of desolation
I will not condemn your brokenness
I am not afraid of your darkness
I have made your heart good – not meant to be hidden, but to be seen.
For it is there that I shine my light.
Let Me shine in you – let Me shine through you.
Do not hide from others – be not ashamed.
Your brokenness can help them see.

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