Christ understands the tears I shed. He also wept before He bled. ~ Terry Powell
WHAT I’VE SEEN IN THE DARK: A Story of Depression and Faith
Audio of Dr. Terry Powell’s testimony at Columbia International University on September 22, 2014. Used with permission.
IN THE DARKNESS OF DEPRESSION
LIKE FALLING RAIN
My tears descend like falling rain.
Their constant flow reveals the pain
of much regret; of fragile heart.
I cannot stop them once they start.
With ev’ry drop there is an ache.
I did not know one’s heart could break
so many times in just one day.
Despondency won’t go away.
I shout! Yet God seems not to hear.
He leaves untouched my hurt, my fear.
Where is the God of Abraham?
Where’s El Shaddai? The great “I Am?”
Like falling rain hope, too, descends.
Are there not any dividends
to faith within the here and now?
Will God assist me? When? And How?
Does He not care when what I feel
makes dying grow in its appeal?
Though it’s racked by doubt, my mind turns
to God’s Word. Here is what it learns.
He gave His Spirit. He is near!
In time He’ll wipe away each tear.
Though I do not know how, or when,
My lips will smile and sing again.
Christ understands the tears I shed.
He also wept before He bled.
His cross absorbed His tears, and mine.
Heart-rending pain serves to refine.
God never acts except from love.
My darkness was designed above
For fruitfulness, and for my gain.
It’s grace outpoured, like falling rain.
Dr. Terry Powell
Author and Professor
Terry is Faculty Emeritus at Columbia International University, and now Adjunct Professor in Church Ministries. Married 50 years, he has two sons, a daughter-in-law, and a grandson. Terry writes about faith and depression at Penetrating the Darkness. His latest book, Oh God, I’m Dying! How God Redeems Pain for Our Good and for His Glory tells of God's sustaining grace in the life of co-author, Dr. Mark Smith, an effective Christian university president despite suffering daily pain from a near-fatal accident.
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“We’ve got to take off our masks of living in Halloween, and live in Easter! Grace is for us.” I was so blessed by these words today, and “We give God most glory when we receive more Grace.” Thank you so much for sharing this powerful and truth-filled testimony!