"Lord, Have Mercy" by Michael W. Smith.....
Barren Land Blessings
Blessings prevail in barren land.
The desert’s all aglow.
Human hands and feet of God
Fight with love, conquering woe.
Calling for a leap of faith
To a place of abandonment.
Emptying self of sin and pride,
Hearts and minds to Almighty God bent.
Tares and wheat lay on a threshing-floor
Where fake pulls apart from true.
Broken, beaten, battered, bruised,
The process whips up reality in view.
Burdened by blistering trials,
Forged in the fiery furnace,
Mounting pressure requires endurance.
Glorious gems fashioned with purpose.
Lumps of clay, hand-picked and pliable,
Molded on a potter’s wheel.
Surrendering to the touch of God,
Stamped with His precious seal.
The transformation process
From adversity and pain
Necessitates a walk with Jesus
Where hardships turn to gain.
Journey along the wilderness trail,
Where broken hearts emerge.
Discern the faithful promises of God
Replace joy while sorrows purge.
God bore witness to the mountain climb
As His Son Jesus reached heights of glory.
Trudging through barren land to highest peak,
He equips us to share His love story!
DDC February 20, 2006
The threshing floors will pile high again with wheat, and the presses overflow with olive oil and wine. Joel 2:24 (TLB)
But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord nor understand his plan, for the time will come when the Lord will gather together the enemies of his people like sheaves upon the threshing floor, helpless before Israel. Micah 4:12 (TLB)
Bless our God, O peoples,
And sound His praise abroad,
Who keeps us in life
And does not allow our feet to slip.
For You have tried us, O God;
You have refined us as silver is refined.
You brought us into the net;
You laid an oppressive burden upon our loins.
You made men ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water,
Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance. Psalm 66:8-12 (NASB)
Yet you, Lord, are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord;
do not remember our sins forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
for we are all your people. Isaiah 64:8-9 (NIV)
Even though the fig trees are all destroyed, and there is neither blossom left nor fruit; though the olive crops all fail, and the fields lie barren; even if the flocks die in the fields and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will be happy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; he will give me the speed of a deer and bring me safely over the mountains. Habakkuk 3:17-19 (TLB)
"Diamonds" by Hawk Nelson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf1ARbpB0gA