A Life of Dreams and Tears

 

My life has known both tears and dreams,
I’ve known sunshine and I’ve known moonbeams;
To share it all would bring such pain,
Yet I must tell and not refrain. . .

When youth is ripe and years are few,
When excitement reigns and life is new,
When all seems lovely and sun is bright,
We look ahead with rosy sight.

This view was mine in life’s fresh spring,
When all was sweet, at life’s awakening.
The future beckoned and held a gleam,
And clear as crystal was my dream.

A dream it was, so delightful and free,
For life held a treasure, blessed to me.
I anxiously planned my life’s delight,
A dream that was sweet and very bright.  

I began to work for God above,
For He was my joy and He was my love.
Incessantly, I served his cause,
Working night and day, without a pause.

With all my heart, I labored from dawn—
Teaching, preaching, writing on. . .
My vision impelled, with fortitude,
I ran the race with spirit renewed.

I wanted to learn, I wanted to write,
I wanted to stand for truth and the right.
So many were lost, so many deceived,
But few seemed to care, and few believed.

Pursuing the Lord and His word each day,
I pressed forward in God’s own way…
Studying the Scriptures with all my might,
Active from early morning to late at night.

I pleaded with God to give me His fruit,
As I stood for His will and truth absolute.
I knew that my days were numbered in life,
So I wanted to use them in this brief earthly strife.

The Lord did not give me a wife during this time,
A fellow-companion in life’s springtime;
I wanted a marriage, a family so true,
To labor with me, a part of the few.

  But as the years came and went,
As trials weighed down and life was spent,
As winds of adversity and storms befell,
My lofty dreams would pass and plans dispel.

I lost my house and had no bed,
I had little left, and had no bread,
My money was gone, my job was lost,
My friends deserted while waves betossed.

I couldn’t sleep, my plans were gone,
The days wore on, without a dawn.
Why would my God allow this trial?
But still I’d face each day with a smile.

Yet I must admit I’d oft’ shed a tear,
As I continued with life, so hard and austere.
No one seemed to understand
Throughout this cruel and lonely land.

But by God’s grace, He supported me
Through many years, by God’s decree.
He taught me much through prayer and pain—
Deep lessons of truth I can’t explain.

Through mercy, the Father gave me a wife
To be a companion the remainder of life.
He gave me a work for Him to pursue
And gave me a vision, both fresh and new.

The trials continue on day by day,
Without the sun’s bright and beautiful ray.
Yet God my dear Father loves me still
And I will always do His will.

Someday in heaven I will clearly see,
One day Jesus will give the key.
And I will understand it all,
When before His throne I humbly fall.

He will tell the reason for the pain
And then I’ll see that life wasn’t in vain.
No more will my days be dim,
For with sweet joy I’ll worship Him.

The tears of earth will be wiped away,
And then shall dawn the eternal day.
Faithful to God I will always be,
Until His glory I will see. . .

  Richard Hollerman