Hold On!

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? -Psalm 27:1 (KJV)

Sometimes life is a struggle

With twists and turns so blind.

How can I hope to hold on,

Assurances to find?

Each day a step toward victory

In this way we walk and run;

Each morning’s dawn a promise

With the rays of brilliant sun.

A Hand reaches out to touch me,

God’s Hand with mighty strength;

He knows already my life and death,

Their depth, their height, their length.

“Fear not,” He whispers warmly

Whatever turn I take;

He knows my mind and holds my hand

In struggles that I make.

Even pain will not oppress me,

Nor the darkness override;

His Hand is ever upon me

To sustain me and to guide.

Behold! What a gift life is,

Although beset at times with doubt;

God is my Guide and Anchor,

He’s prepared my entire route!

Thanks be to God for promises,

For His presence and His power,

My ever-present Guide and Stay

Throughout each earthly hour.

 

-Ethelene Dyer Jones 09.17.2017.

The poem was composed December 7, 2011, when my husband, the Rev. Grover D. Jones, was near death after having had debilitating Alzheimer’s for 18 years. I knew God would see me through the remainder of his days, as He had since his diagnosis 17 years previously. The doctors/nurses who attended him stated that they had not known a case of Alzheimer’s when the patient lived as long as he did with the disease.. He died peacefully and quietly on January 26, 2011 at 1:26 a. m. in Georgia War Veterans’ Home, Milledgeville. I looked after him 14 of the 18 years at home, and visited him almost every day the 4 years he was in Veterans’ Home, except for the days/weeks when I myself was in the hospital, as for five bypasses heart surgery (August 30, 2007) and another major surgery for another ailment in 2009. God taught me, indeed, to “Hold On!” to His power and His Hand. I claimed for my verse during Grover’s long illness and during the many hospitalizations I myself have had for serious ailments since 1999, this verse from Psalm 118:17. I have also shared the verse many times with others who deal with serious health and other challenges. That verse reads: “I shall not die but live, and declare the works of the Lord.” Each time I have come back from a near-death experience, I have rejoiced that God answered my prayer as I prayed Psalm 118:17. “ God’s not finished with me yet!” Amen!