"...Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?..." Job 37:16.

"...I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.
But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked..." Isa 57:19-21.

"...Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee...." 1 Tim 4:13-16.

My Life Is Like An Ocean

By Elder O. Allen Bailey

7.6

Introduction

Here I am, I'm back again,
After a short respite;
Though I had planned to attend
This place to very last.

Here I append where I've been,
Though never out of sight;
Places where God puts me in,
Not always with delight.

The Balancings Of the Clouds

(Composed While A Thunderstorm Passed Over)

My life is like an ocean,
Or the forbidding storm;
As all the earth in motion
Which God's Own Hand did form.

In restlessness I wander
To find a peaceful place;
Of Grace, or earth am fonder,
In this or in that race?

I wholly should be given
To things of God, you see;
- Strive to ever enliven
In Christ, this ministry;

I seek there my employ,
And for a time find peace;
Then cares of earth annoy,
Till Christ again release.

As winds with fearful lighting
Attend the present storm;
So is my cry and plighting
When I feel all alorn.

Yet, now I must consider
When skies and clouds turn grey;
This is God's ordained order,
For life along the way;

The skies above to balance
With bright or dark clouds too;
God shows His wondrous valence
His great world through and through.

These things are now combining
As waters of the sea;
And ever are refining
The way God planned for me.

In Hope we wait with patience
As soft rain gently falls;
God knows our occupations,
From here to there He calls;

His rain falls on the mountains;
On barren places too;
But finally makes the fountains
That spring so clear and blue;

His goodness on the evil
Like rain does also fall;
And it will find God's level
When it has done it's all.

*Copyright June, 2002

O. Allen Bailey

*This material may be freely copied and distributed, but shall not be altered or sold.