Fumble Fingers Poem by Chris Taylor

As most of you know, I am a musician with a deep love for the Lord’s music, vocals and guitar. The last month I have been experiencing some disturbing numbness in my left shoulder and left fingers. This is a little troubling because it has been increasingly harder to play my guitar; and that is one of the ways I serve the Lord. Lately, I have been going through a difficult time in my life. My daily struggle has been magnified and part of my spirit has been yearning for a better place. I have shared before my fight with my medical conditions and the last month I have been feeling like I just don’t need another thing to heap up on my day-to-day list of overcoming. Then, how does a man keep his focus on Jesus and not the circumstances(2 Corinthians 5: 7) ? I was praying this morning and God just keeps showing me that I am in a battle against an enemy that wants my destruction. The bible says: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the heavenly [places]” Ephesians 6: 12. In the last few months I have drawn very close to the Lord and He has blessed me for it. I have been stepping out in some ministry opportunities and have given a lot of myself to the people of my church, my work and whoever I come in contact with. Well, when you do that, the enemy of our souls, places a huge target on your back and you start to experience many trials and difficulties. It’s funny, when I didn’t serve God my life was empty but no onslaught of intense pressure and feeling of everything coming against you at every step. So, as I continued in my prayer with the Father, he began to show me how important that I come through this trial so the testing of my metal will result in purity in the Lord. In Malachai 3: 3 is says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD. I, so desperately, want to bring glory to the Lord. Our great Messiah once prayed: “Father, glorify me so that I can bring glory to you”. So, when I pray, I ask the Lord to bless me so I can bring glory back to Him. That should always be our motive. If that was the desire of Jesus, then, it should drive us to do the same since God the Father sent Jesus to be our great example as well as our sacrifice. Well, what do I do with this information the Lord has given me? How do I apply it to the right now? I need to just be pleased with where the Lord has me and remember that all this struggle will eventually produce hope, in a risen savior, in a life worthy of living and in the great plans the Lord has for my life. At the end of this poem, I quoted a verse from Romans 5: 3-5 “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” Today, if you are struggling with some maladies, or, having trouble overcoming some giant obstacle in you life, believe in what God is doing in you. Trust that He has it all under control; and allow God’s love to be poured directly into your heart, by the Holy Spirit who has been given to you. All this suffering will produce in you a great hope, which God invented so you would continue forth in your journey. If you don’t know Jesus as your savior, please message me and I will take you by the hand and we will travel down the “Romans Road” of salvation. I have put a few miles on this road and it is a blessed path to freedom.
Please enjoy the poem about struggle, maladies and keeping an eye on what God is doing in your life.
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The Great Plains Poet, follower of the path and over-comer of my circumstances,

God Bless you all!

Fumble Fingers
by Chris T.

Worn out calloused digits,
The tools that I use.
My friends and my foes,
Milestones of age and duty.

Today you fly with the adept flow of an ever-changing breeze,
Tomorrow you knurl and freeze like the knots in a toddler’s shoelace.
You execute the impulse of my mind
and the desires of my heart.

Can you please work correctly today?
Will you embarrass me in front of my colleagues, my students?
If you might be patient enough to let the medicine do its job,
You might be one with your custodian, your friend.

It makes no sense to curse you or to chastise,
For you did not choose your affliction.
I won’t let my heart grow cold to your trials, your lot.
The letdown will not exceed my joy.

For when you are on, your blessing is unquestionable.
When it all comes together, accolades are received, confidence builds and joy from the Lord becomes complete.
When the Spirit is guiding, lives are touched and God’s field has been plowed.
The question: Is my elation worth this price?

Yes, oh yes, the push through the pain has merit.
The surprise and dismay is a purchase I will make over and over again.
For my Lord said suffering would produce endurance,
Endurance will lead to character,
And character will reveal unto me hope.

So, I will be content with my fumble fingers,
My small curse and my laboring for hope.
The gift of this affliction is not in its suffering,
But in it’s producing of a humble and penitent man.