Poem: "Too Good to Be True"
"Too Good to Be True"
- March 15, 2024
By Sabrina Reedy
All my life has been a performance.
If I can only be perfect, I'll make them proud.
I'll finally hear the words, "I love you."
I finally won't feel lost in the crowd.
But the message comes to me, "It isn't true.
That's not where your value lies.
You are beautifully, wonderfully, uniquely you,
And priceless in your heavenly Father's eyes.
There's nothing you can do, good or bad,
To change His love for you."
But my heart resists, and pushes back,
It's just too good to be true.
So my head accepts, but tucks away,
The rebellion within my heart.
And I try to live out what's too good to be true,
But it secretly feels like a farce.
"You're addicted to rejection" the preacher says,
And my heart skips a beat in my chest.
But no, that cannot apply to me,
So I bury this denial with the rest.
But my experience proves these words to be true,
As true rest evades my soul.
I try to find peace in my value with God,
But something else is still wielding control.
My subconscious says, "Let's disappoint them,
And see if the message holds true.
Let's purposefully try not to be perfect,
And see what my loved ones will do."
Will they still call me if I never call them?
Will my husband put up with my moods?
What if I'm late for important events?
Or "forget" to contribute any food?
What if this war that is raging inside,
Leaves me so terribly exhausted,
That I cannot make time for anyone,
And perhaps they will think that I've lost it?
"Surely then," my deceitful heart sneers,
"My value will decrease in their eyes.
Then I will prove the true wishful thinking
Of this message they lovingly prize.
Then all those years of toil to perfection,
Will not be a waste after all.
I can pick right back up, earning my way to heaven,
And restoring myself from the fall."
And that somehow feels safer, as insane as that seems,
Because then I'm the one in control.
But the grip of these lies on my heart starts to slip,
As the still, small Voice reaches my soul.
"My daughter, My dear, My sincerely beloved,
Why are you looking to others?
They are also in the process of escaping these lies,
In this journey, your sisters and brothers.
They may not always react in the perfect way,
To affirm your value to you.
But that is no reason for your heart to say,
'This message is too good to be true.'
You know it is not their message, it's Mine.
And child, have I not proved this to you?
Sent My Son to save you, in the depths of your sin,
And you say it's too good to be true?"
I cry out in anguish, as I see it again,
His cross right before my eyes.
"Help me receive it!" I woefully plead,
"I'm so sick and tired of these lies."
"It's okay, My child. There is no condemnation.
I know just how deep your wounds go.
But I'm your Physician, My hands lack no skill,
And it's time that we reap what I've sown.
You know it's the truth; your value is infinite.
I have shown you this, time and again.
I'll help you release them, from the pressure to prove it.
Let's set free your family and friends.
Your life was not wasted in your fight for perfection,
Though it was never My desire for you.
It was a needful experience called the Old Covenant,
To prepare you to be thus made new.
My work of refinement brings dross to the surface,
And it can be painful, I know.
But it's a pain that brings healing, and freedom from sin,
That My blessings more freely may flow.
It's time to let go. Will you trust Me, My love?
I promise, I won't let you fall.
Let's burst the balloon, let the pressure explode,
Release you, and your loved ones, and all."
So I close my eyes tight, as the tears keep on streaming,
And envision myself letting go.
A moment of fear, but then weightless, and freeing,
And the truth in my head, my heart knows.
It is somehow, amazingly, perfectly true,
That my worth in His eyes has no limit.
Nothing I've done, or ever could do,
Has one iota of power to change it.
All pressure, expectations, and stresses are gone.
In His arms I can simply just be.
Coming and going, and living and loving,
Uniquely and perfectly me.
I don't want to open, don't want to go back,
And He assures, in His arms I can stay.
"Keep your eyes on My Son, and He'll safeguard your heart.
He's the Life, and the Truth, and the Way."
Could this really be it? The peace that He's promised?
My smile tells my heart what to do.
It's time to accept, it's time to believe it,
It isn't too good to be true.
