Broken Chains

Your words are like rain in the spring,

Giving life to whatever, it touches.

From the dead of Winter, it brings new life,

Colors fill the fields with Your delight.

You took the chains that my enemy had made,

You broke me free from which I was a slave.

At this moment I truly asked you into my life,

Forgiving me of my sin, letting me know I will be alright.

My heart laid cold and dead with sin,

My enemy has kept me captive for so long.

They held me against my will, until my will was destroyed,

Holding me in darkness, my days were wasted.

I began making other friends called anger, bitterness, and resentment,

They all lived with me, trapped down in my basement.

It got so dark in there I could never find my way out,

I got too comfortable and found a new friend, doubt.

I could hear everyone above me laughing and enjoying time,

I wasted those days, giving up happiness for wine.

I became afraid to hear their noise, so I didn’t even look for the stairs,

I am all alone, just me and my friends,

Carrying unforgiveness keeping me stuck until the end.

I lashed out at all of you, trying to get someone to care.

LOOK AT ME, and ALL THE PAIN and HURT I HAVE!

Why am I not the most important person right now why doesn’t anyone care?

I watched how I hurt everyone with the words that I spoke,

Why do you get to be so happy when I feel so broke?

Do you feel like me now?  Can you feel my sorrow?

If not, I can try harder and do it again tomorrow.

I am comfortable here, I thought I could manage,

Do you feel like me yet, through all of my damage?

No one wants to visit me here, down where I am,

The way I have been acting I can hardly blame them.

My friends are taking all of me, I can’t even give them any slack,

They take everything from me, and they never give anything back.

Well, I am broke, far more then I wanted,

And in the process, I took everyone for granted.

When is enough, enough?  The words, the bottle, the pain?

Please save me from this torment, from this despair,

I feel so broken, beyond any kind of repair.

Oh, what a wretch I have truly become.

I pled and I cried, where can my help come from?

As I made my cry and begged for grace,

Jesus came down to visit me in my lonely, dark place.

I cried out in my suffering, being bound by my sin,

You were just waiting for me to invite You in.

He said I died for a person such as you,

Give me all of your broken pieces and see what I can do!

This is a process as I begin to put you back together,

I could do it all at once but the slower the better.

I am preparing you for endurance in your new race,

I am training you with patience, so you have a winning pace.

For your pain, come and cast it upon my cross,

For I know pain and I know loss.

I know just how much that payment did cost.

For your sins, which I know each and every one,

I was broken so I could forgive them by what I have done.

Give me your bitterness, anger, and your rage too,

I died for all of this, all because I love you.

I did this all, before you even knew,

I did this all, all because I love you.

I was mocked, beaten, and was the sacrificial son,

The race I want you to do, I have already won.

So, take heart for you will share in my victory,

You will share in my prize,

I will live in you, for the rest of your life.

I want you to know, I was with you when you were trapped in your sin,

I was with you in the beginning and I will be with you until the end.

I will never leave you, for you need to have faith in me,

Your hurts will turn into happiness, just wait and you will see.

Take heart, and have patience for now,

Trust in me and I will show you how.

I want what is best for you, this you must know,

I will guide you on your path, which way you are to go.

So, for now, enjoy my peace I have brought into your life,

Take joy my child, I have saved you from your strife.

I have always loved you, and I always will,

Put my words in your heart and be very still.

You are with me now, and I am with you,

I am doing this all, all because I love you!

Luke 4:18-19 (NLT)   The spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord's favor has come.