Would I have known this gladness
without the mourning in my heart
that made room for You?
Look what You've created from the ashes -
beauty like a crown
that came from finding You.
Is my boast made of what I scorned -
a weakness that made room for Your power?
Is my boast made of what I've learned -
to lean on You in my darkest hour?
Would I have reached to touch Your garment
if healing was not needed
for my brokenness?
And would You be singing Your love song
through this vessel
had she not known such weakness?
Your inheritance is in us -
our tears will be turned to songs of joy.
And tests that buffet and assail us
are only tools that lead us closer to our home.
Would I tell others of Your comfort
if not having it myself
to see me through?
I will exalt in Your glory,
for the things that show my weakness
are my boast in You.
For Your heart, oh God,
is searching for a resting place -
making room in our own through our pain;
And the sufferings we know at present
are not worth to be compared
with the glory that will remain!
For Your story, oh God,
is written in the least of us -
rejected by the world to be Your own;
So I will bow low and kiss redemption
for the things that I despised
have led me home.
