Building Home: A Poetical Rant

And, as my recent post The Other Side explained, my ponderings usually stem from scripture and often pour themselves out into poetry.

A couple of weeks ago, I was meditating on these words from my old friend Isaiah:

“Enlarge the site of your tent,
and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
and strengthen your stakes.
For you will spread out to the right and to the left,
and your descendants will possess the nations
and will settle the desolate towns.” ~ Isaiah 54:2-3

Now, I have always liked these verses. I have copied them into my journal more than once over the years and prayed them fervently over myself and many dear ones. This passage feels full of promise: “Ask for big things,” God seems to be saying. “Believe that I am with you, and act on that belief, and I will establish you. I will build for you a Home.”

I have written much hopeful poetry along these lines, including the one I rediscovered in an old journal recently and shared with you in this post. But, as I read through Isaiah’s rousing words this time around, I found myself getting a little angry.

See, this promise has no timeline.

Isaiah gives no guarantee that obeying the command in verse 2 will lead directly and instantly to the blessing of verse 3. In fact, if we go by other biblical stories of people walking in faith, the fulfillment of the promise may not even come about in your lifetime. I am reminded of one of Aslan’s most annoying (but important) lines from The Chronicles of Narnia:

“Please, Aslan,” said Lucy, “what do you call soon?”
“I call all times soon,” said Aslan; and instantly he was vanished away . . .

If you’re anything like me, you tend to leap ahead with verse 2 and then get more than a bit impatient when verse 3 does not immediately follow. It’s really childish, when I stop to think about it: “I’m putting in the work, so where’s my reward?”

It’s the metaphysical equivalent of crossing your arms and stamping your foot.

Still . . . it happens.

On this particular day, I decided to vent my frustration in a no-holds-barred, honest, “I am not pleased with the situation” poem-prayer based on Isaiah 54:2. There is scriptural precedent for this: many of the psalms begin with this tone.

And, like many of the psalms, I found my poem turning – reluctantly, annoyingly, irresistibly – from lament to praise to prayer.

I realized that I was sort of misinterpreting the text – or, rather, missing its full resonance. Verse 2 is about building something, but it is not based on my effort or will. The building materials are not what I thought they were. Furthermore, the work is ongoing and far from over.

The good news is that we are not alone in any of it, and that the Builder is far more invested in the establishment of this home than we could ever be.