The Disciplined Life

When God wants to drill a man,

And thrill a man,

And skill a man

To play the noblest part;

When He yearns with all His heart

To create so great and bold a man

That all the world shall be amazed,

Watch His methods, watch His ways!

How He ruthlessly perfects

Whom He royally elects!

How He hammers and hurts him,

And with mighty blow converts  him

Into trial shapes of clay which

Only God understands;

While his tortured heart is crying

And he lifts beseeching hands!

How He bends but never breaks

When His good He undertakes;

How He uses whom He chooses,

And with every purpose fuses Him;

By every act induces him

To try His splendor out-

God knows what He's about.

-V.Raymond Edman