Comfort in the Cross

“Where are you, Lord
When the darkness swallows
When your silence deafens
In a multitude of sorrows?

Where is your comfort
When pain abounds
When companions flee
And loneliness resounds?

Where is your justice
When the innocent are hunted
When the wicked prosper
And their evil is flaunted?

Where is your compassion
When a heart can bear no more
When weariness overwhelms
And it’s too much to endure?

And He answered…

Where were you, my child
When all the earth was made
When I breathed the breathe of life
And the boundaries were laid?

Where were you
When mankind disobeyed
Rejecting my love
And choosing their own way?

Where were you
When I walked the face of the earth
When I left the comforts of heaven
And entered the nakedness of birth.

Where were you
When I felt the sting of pain and loss
When I endured the greatest injustice
And hung beaten upon a cross?

Where were you
When I bore your sin upon me
When I was crushed by grief and sorrow
And gave my life to set you free?

Where were you
When my closest friends denied me
When my Father turned his face away
And His wrath was all I could see?

My child, you may not have been there
But it was for you that I endured
Knowing your sins would be many
But your salvation would be secured.

Darkness, pain, and injustice
I’ve known them all too well
Though you must suffer for a while
You’ll not taste the bitter cup of hell.

So remember…

In the darkness I am your light
In my silence I’m still your strength
In your confusion I’m your constant
In control of its intensity and length.

In your injustice I will judge 
In your sorrows I will weep
In your loneliness I will draw near
And my promises I will keep.

Child, when my ways are mysterious
And you’re grieved by pain and loss
Fix your eyes upon my proven love
That was displayed upon the cross.

With hope,

Sarah Walton