[as]

Chains.
Heavy. Rusty.
Eating away at your flesh.
The bolts that hold them together
are stained red from where
they have cut into your skin.
Your ankles and wrists are
dry and chafed. Every time
you move... even the smallest bit,
they rub on you, until you are raw.
You cannot be rid of these chains
that keep you bolted to the wall.
No power or force of yours
can remove them from you.
You are stuck. Escape is not an option.
You can go nowhere. You hardly have
enough room to stand. Today they chain
you facing the wall and you know what
is coming next. Every time the lash cuts
across your back, you involutarily try to
lunge away, but the chains keep you held
back, and dig deeper into your skin. Limp
now, you hang against the wall, too weak
to stand. Your back is torn and bleeding, your
mind begins to go numb with pain. Blood from
your wrists and ankles trickle down the chains,
then splatter on the floor. Hopelessness and
despair fight to reign in your heart. Your future
is screwed in place, just as the chains have
screwed your body to the wall. There is no
getting out, no rescue on this earth. You are
ready to give up, pain knows it almost has you
conquered. Then you hear your Father's loving
voice. "My child, I am with you always. Behold,
those that I love, I chasten. I will perform a good
work in you. Nothing can separate you from my
endless love." Your Savior is there beside you,
His love acting as a soothing balm to your worried
frame. He says, "My child, look." You do as He bids,
fixing your eyes on His back, gazing at the crimson stripes
cut deeper than your own. He stretches out His hands
to you, then shows you His feet. The nail marks are
bright, you had thought that time would have somehow
begun to erase them. Considered marred and unsightly
to those who don't know Him, to you they are beautiful.
For in the hideous scars you read freedom. Freedom
from the chains that have bound your soul. Awakened
by your own suffering, and looking at His mangled hands
and feet, you begin to have a glimmer of understanding
as to what a terrible, costly price with which your freedom
was secured. The chains that have you bound have become
lighter. You look down. They are still there, yet, somehow,
they are easier to bear now. You wonder at it while
watching your blood drop to the ground. The truth dawns
within you... your soul is free.