Hamartano

missing the mark 

A lie 

misses the mark of truth 

Envy 

misses the mark of gratitude 

Avarice 

misses the mark of generosity 

Pride 

misses the mark of humility  

Hatred 

misses the mark of love 

Bitterness 

misses the mark of grace 

Fear 

misses the mark of trust  

But the mark 

was never horizontal 

never set 

by the shifting lines 

of men 

 

It was always higher 

fixed 

beyond reach 

yet calling us upward 

not to condemn the miss 

but to reveal the aim—

We do not look around 

to find it 

we do not look within 

to define it 

we look up 

to the One 

who is 

truth 

when we lie 

gratitude 

when we envy 

generosity 

when we grasp

 

love 

when we hate 

grace 

when we harden—

The mark 

is not a standard 

It is a Person 

And every miss 

is not the end 

but the invitation 

to lift our eyes 

and try again 

“I press toward the mark …” 

© Ron Simpson Jr. 

His Voice

Not louder—

though it can thunder

It is the voice

of relationship

peace

in the middle of the storm

truth

in a field of lies

direction

along uncertain paths

a shepherd

cutting through the noise

calling

not driving

leading

not forcing

clarity

in confusion

He speaks purpose

not destruction

pasture

not panic

freedom

not fear

“My sheep hear My voice.

And I know them.

And they follow Me.”

Amid the noise of life—

temptation, doubt, distraction—

there is a voice

cutting through the chaos

like still water 

after the wind 

We follow—

not because we are forced

but because we trust

Not just a voice in the darkness

but a voice

that has walked the path before us

What voice

will you follow?

© Ron Simpson Jr. 

March 26, 2026 

Grace

We err—

step out of line, 

choose poorly, 

know better 

and do it anyway. 

And when judgment does not fall, 

when heaven stays quiet, 

when consequence delays— 

we assume approval. 

But it is not approval. 

It is grace. 

God saying: 

Give them time. 

Give them space. 

Let them grow 

into what they do not yet understand. 

Grace is not agreement. 

It is allowance— 

for process, 

for learning, 

for becoming. 

Yet when the roles reverse, 

we forget. 

We who live by grace 

become judges of progress. 

We measure others 

by our expectations, 

our timelines, 

our comfort. 

We demand alignment 

where God offers patience. 

We require change 

where God allows process. 

We withhold space  

that was freely given to us. 

But the Word is clear— 

what we have freely received, 

we are to freely give. 

Not approval of wrong— 

but grace for growth.

Look up 

before you look down. 

And remember 

how long 

He has been patient 

with you. 

© Ron Simpson Jr.

March 25, 2026

Seeking/Found

He who could not lie

became a man

where that temptation 

could reach Him

He who could not die

became a man

subject to death

His immortality

took on mortality

so that I might take hold of His

He who knew no sin

became sin’s offering

so that I might live beyond it

Not proven

but given

Not forced

but found

He asks not

that I explain Him

only that I come

believing

that He is

And so I come—

not with answers

but with hunger

not with certainty

but with trust

I bring

what I have been

and lay it

against what He is

My questions

do not disqualify me

they lead me

My doubts

do not dismiss Him

they drive me

For something in me

recognizes something in Him

not by sight

but by knowing

And I find—

He is not diminished

by my inability to prove Him

nor strengthened

by my ability to defend Him

He simply is

And in that

I rest

Not because 

I have solved Him

but because

I have found Him

faithful

© Ron Simpson Jr.