He came to set the captives free…
Isolated,
Dead and rotting,
I sat in the prison I had created
Bars forged in the furnace of my heart
The inferno of my mind.
I was blind.
But He came to set the captives free
To break the chains,
The blind to see…
And now this mute
Will speak…
You see, mercy
Rewrote my life
Took me from the depths of the abyss
I once perceived as bliss
Ignorant,
Deaf, dumb, dead
I had surrendered to
The voices in my head
The shadow that whispered
In the dark,
The coldest recesses of my heart,
Urging me to kill myself,
To plunge headfirst into hell,
It was all I knew…
Until I heard…
The voice of the Father,
Our Shepherd,
Calling me home…
He had left the ninety-nine
To call me as His own…
And now, I find refuge
Comfort,
Shelter,
From the helter-skelter
Chaos of this world
‘neath the folded wing of grace,
Safe in God’s embrace…
The bird’s journey,
From cage to sky
Looks a lot like mine…
As I break free
From the chains and bars holding me…
And fly.
Andre Darius Labuschagne is a poet, pastor and musician from Johannesburg, South Africa.