Success

I tried, myself, to bring to pass

That which I thought should be;

I felt the Lord would profit by

A little help from me.

And so I worried and despaired,

And vainly laboured on,

Until my fairest plans had crashed,

My choicest visions gone;

And then I knelt before my Lord,

Chastened, humbled, still,

Ready to let Him work through me,

Ready to do His will.

And there it was I found success,

For then alone my Lord could bless.

I tried to win a soul for Christ;

How earnestly I pleaded

That he had sinned and gone astray

And Christ was all he needed.

I begged him to forsake the world,

Repent and be forgiven–

I tried to coax him to the Lord,

To woo him into heaven.

And then I realized that Christ

Longed for him more than I,

That He alone could make one care,

Who cared enough to die.

Upon my knees I fought the fight–

My friend was born again that night.

by Barbara C. Ryberg