I Gave It My All

There once was a day I gave it all
Everything within,
I tried very hard and listened close,
to the preachers who preached how to win.

They preached about holiness and giving up self,
fasting, praying and reaching.
I practiced it all with all I had,
giving and trying and teaching.

The call came one day to give more than before
And gladly I picked up the call.
I was told it would be hard but worth it much
and so, believing, I gave it my all.

Money and time and self I gave up
Only to hear from them,
It wasn't enough, I must give more
If I really wanted to win.

Trying as hard as I might I gave more
Only to find once again,
No matter how much I sacrified
The answer was always the same.

"Give more. Give more", the preachers would cry,
And I knew just what to do.
Sacrifice more than ever before,
and hope that I would break through.

Finally, when I was all spent
and the preachers still cried for more,
Broken and empty and feeling such pain,
I cried out to the Lord.

"Lord, I heard what the preachers did say,
And really, I gave it my all,
Why is it when I followed this way,
I ended up lost from your call?

I look at them and it does seem to me
They practice not what they preach,
They tell me to give and to give and to give
and yet they themselves don't seem to reach.

When I gave and gave as I was taught
and then I looked at them,
I was broken, tired, and empty
They were strong and then,

When I asked them how to remedy this,
they looked at me with a sigh,
"You just don't get it, silly girl,
You must give more and not ask why."

I stopped speaking and waited a while
wanting the Lord to speak,
Soon He came and answered me
leaving a tear to run down my cheek.

The Lord looked at me with pity
showing in His eye.
He said "It is they, it is they,
who don't understand my child,

Remember in the Bible, far away,
And so many years ago,
I came to earth to show men how to
truly free their soul.

It's not in giving, in works, in pain
that is my truth you see,
It is in knowing that I love you
and that you trust in me."

Then I understood that I
knew more than did all of them.
They led me wrong and did not show
me mercy when I needed them.

With religious cliches and happy quotes
they tried to run my life,
And did not practice what they preached
producing hypocrisy and strife.

Oh Lord, help me to always show,
what you have shown to me.
That it is in faith and grace that your children live
And there they shall always be.

This writing is the copyright of Lynne Yohnk and was posted with her permission. Her email address is lyohnk@hotmail.com if you wish to write. Please let her know if you appreciate her writings!