Faded Ink

Dear God,

You won’t believe who I ran into today! Do you remember my first bible study leader? His story was my favorite Because it was the first one to teach me about you

You sent so many people to pour into me Like that one guy’s story that taught me your relentlessness Oh! and hers, that showed how deep your love flows All glimpses of how you are worthy of my life

But the ink is faded now Their lives reciting a different story Devoid of you Chasing their own desires

What happened to them? Was any of it real? If my story is built upon theirs Is mine real?

Oh, but they weren’t the only people you sent me There were people that I grew with We were writing our own stories together Learning to be your warriors

We grew to love the outcasts Learned to fight for each other Created stories about your goodness I was so blessed by these brothers and sisters

But can I still call them that? They stopped writing Discarding their drafts and progress Making us forgotten strangers

What was different? Was it that meaningless to them? It wasn’t like I was any stronger or more faithful So why me and not them?

And what of the ones you’ve entrusted to me? Their stories had so much promise I poured into them Saw their stories develop

These were the stories of revival This person was devoting their life to you And those people were meeting you for the first time Numerous stories being written

So why is the result the same? Their stories ended too soon Making the same mistakes All leaving you behind

Is this just inevitable? Were our stories not good enough? Did they reflect you properly? Did I fail them? Because you don’t fail So what did I do wrong? Was I not wise enough to cast out their doubts? Was I not loving enough to minister to them? Was I not relentless enough to tear down their walls? God! What was I supposed to do? These were people I cared about! These were people that loved you! You were the greatest thing in their lives But now they don’t want you What can I do? I miss them so much And I feel so powerless here because all I can do is pray.

So God, please, I know you love them more than I do You miss them more than I do Let your wisdom put them in awe of you Let your love captivate them again Let your relentlessness be ever present in their lives Make their lives be a story of your goodness And write your name upon their hearts