A Taste of Exile

Now and then as need requires,
I’m called away from home.
Due to chronic pain my brow perspires,
While out on simple errands I roam.

Most of my time is spent confined,
Within my domicile’s place of repose.
In affliction’s crucible the Lord has refined,
Me amidst loneliness and infirmity’s throes.

I venture out as little as possible,
Because I can hardly bear the strain.
My home’s threshold is hardly crossable,
Due to incessant, pounding head pain.

In this I’ve had a taste of exile;
To be cut off from society at large.
But now and then, I peek through the curtain while,
Various duties I discharge.

When I stagger to the doctor or hobble to the grocer,
I catch glimpses of people living life.
These forlorn glances draw my mind closer,
To my reason for hope in this state of strife.

While I’ve been severed from the wider society,
There is One Who endured exile from Heaven;
Jesus Christ, One of the Triune Three,
To cleanse me of all sin’s leaven.

The majestic and holy Lord Most High,
Was forsaken by the Father on the cross;
Rejected by men and left to die,
To consume the world’s sinful dross.

He knows well what it is to be cut off,
Isolated and in horrible suffering.
He gasped for air and bled as people scoffed,
At Him in death throes shuddering.

But this was His plan; He willingly died,
To pay for our sin and raise us from the dead.
Because God’s Son was crucified,
We have hope as through exile we tread.

He rose from the grave in victory,
And comforts all who trust Him now.
He is near to the outcast and helps us see,
He will make good His vow.

He has promised to give us life eternal,
Overflowing with joy and pleasure.
We’ve a taste of this now in our hearts internal,
But soon will fully take hold of this treasure.

Nothing in this world that we’ve lost,
Will not be regained tenfold in Christ.
Our loving Savior, Himself, paid the cost,
When in our place He was sacrificed.

Whenever I chance to peek through the curtain,
And see what, in sickness, I’ve left behind,
I smile midst tears and look ahead with joy certain;
For it’s in Jesus’ hands that I’m truly confined.