To the ones
waking up early and staying up late
to feed a hungry home,
the ones weeping and praying
for strength in the closet
before gathering a brave finish
to another long day,
the ones walking the path of resilience
with excruciating wounds,
the ones choosing health over relapse,
healing over habit,
and pushing through over giving up.

To the ones
carrying chains of hard truth
to sacrifice for others’ freedom,
the ones accepting the heat in the face of danger to prioritize others’ peace,
the ones taking betrayal and giving loyalty,
the ones trusting through rage for a promised escape,
the ones bearing the sting of loss and disappointment to support others in the face
of what could have been,
the ones succumbing to evil
that has already been defeated
for the love of an enemy.

To the ones
waiting patiently in agony for the test to become a testimony,
the ones enduring pain for another’s purpose,
the ones winning wars that no one hears about and no one sees.

These fierce fighters, the anointed
sufferers,
grinding through hours of sweat and tears
to bring hope to weary souls,
choosing to bear the cross
to resurrect a generation who will never
honor their lives or know their names.

These are the ones, the faithful ones
in a courageous battle,
the brave ones,
the warriors in the fearless Spirit-filled army
that live bold under the radar
in a time of silent redemption and reckoning,
like a subtle trembling beneath the earth’s surface,
changing the waves of time.

These are the ones,
the buried seeds
in the born-again harvest.
The time will come
for what the Savior has planted,
for the victory rooted deep within
the remnants of fertile soil.
The time will come
for their death in the dark
to sprout rays of light
and for their voices of healing
to reach the wind.

The time will come
for the underground to be known and
overwhelmed with truth
and for transformed weapons of wisdom
to invade the earth.

The time will come.
It will surely come
for the rise of the nobodies,
the secret friends of God.