Shut In

I don’t want to be a shut in,
But I’ve been arrested by pain.
For many years now I have been,
By sickness and fatigue, constrained.

The pain in my head is ever present;
A constant companion day and night.
Before my time I’ve become senescent,
Yet, for mankind, this is a common plight.

There’s nothing unusual about my case;
Many face an untimely end.
All born in the confines of time and space,
Succumb, sooner or later, to this trend.

What hope is there then for mortals?
Good health and fortune make fickle friends.
Through diverse and varied portals,
Into pain and heartache man descends.

Those on top of the anthill today,
Will soon be writhing at the bottom.
Does there exist, for humanity, a way,
To transcend this life’s cruel autumn?

Thinking on this, one might ask,
“Has God forgotten compassion?
Is He taking me to task?
Is His love really such meager ration?”

It is ok to have such questions,
But they must be pondered in light of truth.
For, truth provides many sweet subventions,
That will, our dire distress, soothe.

Almighty God Who gave His Son,
Is not now holding out on us.
By hardship, His love is not undone;
Come, let us reason and discuss.

We’re born into a world that’s broken,
And all of us have sinned.
What does this knowledge then betoken?
It means that in Hell we should be pinned.

And yet in this fallen world,
There does still exist much good.
Why God on us, grace, has hurled,
Can hardly be understood.

But let’s speak not of temporal trifles,
And get straight to the point.
For our sin that, all life, stifles,
Jesus’ bones were pulled out of joint.

For the Lord God suffered and died,
On the cross of Calvary.
Blood flowed from His brow and side,
To pay for our sin and set us free.

Next He rose up from the grave,
And all who trust Christ will rise too.
They’ll be hauled out of death’s enclave,
And raised to life anew.

Although we face hardship now,
God is worthy of our trust.
He will end what pain He does allow,
And raise us from the dust.