The Warrior Is a Child
by Twila Paris
Lately, I've been winning battles left and right
But even winners can get wounded in the fight
People say that I'm amazing, strong beyond my years
But they don't see inside of me, I'm hiding all the tears
They don't know that I go running home when I fall down
They don't know who picks me up when no one is around
I drop my sword and cry for just a while
'Cause deep inside this armor the warrior is a child
Unafraid because His armor is the best
But even soldiers need a quiet place to rest
People say that I'm amazing, never face retreat
But they don't see the enemies that lay me at His feet
They don't know that I go running home when I fall down
They don't know who picks me up when no one is around
I drop my sword and cry for just a while
'Cause deep inside this armor the warrior is a child
They don't know that I go running home when I fall down
They don't know who picks me up when no one is around
I drop my sword and look up for a smile
'Cause deep inside this armor, deep inside this armor
Deep inside this armor the warrior is a child
Warrior is a child
And Lesley has chosen a passage from Isaiah as her favorite. She particularly likes all of Isaiah 53-55, but I have just put Isaiah 54 below:
"Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child;
Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed;
For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous
Than the sons of the married woman," says the Lord.
"Enlarge the place of your tent;
Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not;
Lengthen your cords
And strengthen your pegs.
"For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left.
And your descendants will possess nations
And will resettle the desolate cities.
"Fear not, for you will not be put to shame;
And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced;
But you will forget the shame of your youth,
And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
"For your husband is your Maker;
Whose name is the Lord of hosts;
And your Redeemer is the Holy one of Israel,
Who is called the God of all the earth.
"For the Lord has called you,
Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Even like a wife of one's youth when she is rejected,"
Says your God.
For a brief moment I forsook you,
But with great compassion I will gather you.
"In an outburst of anger
I hid My face from you for a moment,
But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,"
Says the Lord your Redeemer.
"For this is like the days of Noah to Me,
When I swore that the waters of Noah
Would not flood the earth again;
So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
Nor will I rebuke you.
"For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But my lovingkindness will not be removed from you,
And my covenant of peace will not be shaken,"
Says the lord who has compassion on you.
"O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
Behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
And your foundations I will lay in sapphires.
"Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies,
And your gates of crystal,
And your entire wall of precious stones.
"All your sons will be taught of the Lord;
And the well-being of your sons will be great.
"In righteousness you will be established;
You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear;
And from terror, for it will not come near you.
"If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me.
Whoever assails you will fall because of you.
"Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals
And brings out a weapon for its work;
And I have created the destroyer to ruin.
"No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;
And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their vindication is from Me," declares the Lord.
The song's precious lyrics to me take on new significance now as I am going through even more difficulties in life and have even more "enemies that lay me at his feet" than ever before. And Isaiah 54 is the chapter I go back to and read whenever I am baffled by life, or need to reconnect with God after I feel lost. The first stanza ("o barren one, you who have borne no child") spoke to me when I was still single. The "spread abroad to the right and to the left" confirmed to me I was doing the right thing to move to Indiana (right of Illinois, in 1990) and Colorado (left of Illinois, in 1995). The second stanza comforted me when I became aware of how much fear and shame were in my life from my childhood. When I have been single, I have rejoiced in the knowledge that "your husband is your Maker" and when I got separated and divorced, I was deeply comforted by God's words about the "forsaken", "grieved" and "rejected" wife. The third stanza is a comfort as to God's steadfastness, especially as I fear people's anger so much. I love that he has "sworn" not to be angry with me, and that his lovingkindness and compassion are unshakable. In the 4th stanza, the first verses even spoke to me as long ago as 1990 when I was dating a man whose initials were S.B. (the same as "antimony" in the periodic table!), and it was significant to me that my engagement ring had "rubies" and "crystals" in it. As I became a mom to two sons, I delighted in God's promise that my "sons would be taught of the Lord" and that their "well-being" would be "great". Finally, again, as my life seems assailed in recent years by many a "tongue that accuses [me] in judgment", I have been comforted by God's promise that God will protect me and establish me, and that these attacks are not from Him.
ReplyDeleteI love that song too, an oldie from my college days, but I still enjoy it! Karen
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