It is one of the great paradoxes of the Christian life—we have been saved, but we still sin. We have committed ourselves to the Lord, but are sometimes still so committed to rebelling against him. We have been forgiven, yet still at times spurn his grace. I expect thoughts like these were in the mind and heart of a poet named M.A.B. Kelly when she wrote “Without and Within” and pleaded with the Lord to “let the sunlight in.”
The sun shines in my outer world,
But darkness reigns within,
A fearful gloom enshrouds my soul,
The nebula of sin.
Dear Savior, smile away this gloom,
And let the sunlight in.
Sweet bird-songs cheer my outer world,
But anguish wails within.
Ambition, pride, and gross deceit
Have bound my soul in sin;
Then, O my Savior, break these bonds,
And let the sunlight in!
Temptations throng my way without,
Remorse broods dark within;
The chains that bind my tortured soul
Are festered o’er with sin;
Dear Savior, send thy healing balm,
And let the sunlight in.
While pleasure gayly smiles without,
What torment reigns within!
And still, poor weakling that I am,
I tread the paths of
