Worthless to Priceless (The Cross)
I've been on vacation over the past week, so in lieu of a continuation of my God is Love series today I've decided to post a bit of poetry that I wrote while on vacation, I hope you enjoy!
Two words
so similar
yet complete opposites
they begin with worth
end with not
and they are us
The first is our beginning
worthless
without value
there is no price small enough for worthless
it lacks worth
value
it is worth nothing
it is nothing
worthless
The second can be our future
priceless
infinite value
there is no price high enough for priceless
beyond worth
value
it is worth so much
is it invaluable
priceless
~~~
We start out as worthless
without value
but ever desperate to gain it
we throw ourselves at anything we think will give us
worth
and our hearts grow heavy when it fails us
worthless
Yet, when we are offered this chance to be priceless
we shy away from it
because that pricelessness
it doesn’t come from us
to be priceless in God’s eyes is to recognize that
on our own we are worthless
and to be worthless is terrifying
So we strive
we strive to be worth something
we work to be worth something
we need to be worth something
and we think we need to deserve it
We need to earn our worth
deserve it
control it
we want to be worth something
because we are good
But
however hard we try
we can never run far enough
fast enough
from the fact that we are worthless
all on our own
we have no value
and we cannot bring value to ourselves
~~~
Only in that silence
the silence of truth
the silence of not-enough
only there
is there room for another voice
another offer
Only when we see the truth
can we see the writer of truth
only when we see that we are not
do our hearts search for I Am
He does not tell us that we are worthy
He does not tell us that we are perfect
He does not tell us that we are enough
He does not tell us the things we think we want to
hear
He tells us the truth
He tells us that we are unworthy
He tells us that we have sinned
He tells us that something is wrong
and He tells us that we cannot fix it
~~~
We might be tempted to stop there
to let despair work its war in us
to stop trying
striving
and to live in defeat
We might be tempted to stop there
but for the whisper
it is a strange whisper
it speaks of pricelessness
and it feels like grace
It tells us that the story doesn’t end here
it tells us that the story never ended with us
the story won’t end in failure
and it offers us a part in the story
It’s not the part we would have chosen
front and center
it’s a role in the background
to watch
to cheer the hero on
And though our hearts want to rebel
to insist on making our own story
one all about us
we know deep inside that our own story is worthless
but this new story
this new story offers us a chance to be priceless
priceless because of someone else
Priceless because someone else paid for us
priceless because someone else sacrificed for us
priceless because of someone else
priceless at the foot of the cross
And that quiet voice
stills our hearts
that quiet voice
that offer of pricelessness
of the things we long for
but hardly dare admit
That gentle voice
full of love
answers the questions we hardly dare ask
and it answers them in ways we didn’t imagine
We didn’t imagine feeling so peaceful in the
background
we didn’t imagine being priceless because of someone
else
we didn’t imagine grace like this
we didn’t imagine the cross
The cross that changed things
the cross that took worthlessness and put it on
something priceless
the cross that turned the law upside down
the cross that offers us hope
more than hope
the cross that offers us pricelessness
infinite love
the cross that tells us the things our souls long to
hear
We didn’t imagine the cross
but the cross imagined us
the cross was prepared for us
the cross was ready to take on all our worthlessness
to give us pricelessness
the cross knew us
the cross paid for us
~~~
This is where we stand
where we struggle
we strive to bring our own worth
but we find ourselves broken again
and again
broken
we find ourselves at the foot of the cross
Listening to a voice
that tells us of a hope supreme
that fills us with peace and hope and joy
this is our struggle
to listen to the voice
to live in pricelessness
undeserved
we were never worthy of it
we were never worthy
But
the cross stands tall
and tells us we were worth it
the cross stands tall
and tells us He’s got big plans
He wants us to be in on them
the cross stands tall
and offers us places
as sons and daughters of God
the cross stands tall
and shouts the glory of God
the cross stands tall
We didn’t expect the cross
but we find
again and again
the cross expected us
~Rebecca P.
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