Depths of a Dungeon
Sandy lay slumped against the dank wall in the dark cell, deep in a dungeon no one except her tormentor knew about. Her hair was straggly and tangled, her clothes torn and filthy, her heart irreparably broken. As she tried to change position, a voiceless cry came from her lips as leg cuffs cut into her severely chafed ankles. Depressed, starving, shivering with cold, her breaths were quick and shallow.
Fearful and without hope, she tried to hug herself to get warm forgetting the tormentor had recently placed a manacle about her wrist shackling her to an iron ring embedded in the wall.
The weight of oppression smothered her, sucking the life from her. Silenced, her voice and her dignity stolen, she longed for death to overtake her.
Overhead was a scratching sound. Listless, she ignored it. But the sound continued; slowly she realized something was pecking at the window. A tiny sliver of light shone into her cell, followed by the song of a lark.
As the song continued, it felt like a warm blanket was placed over her. Someone knew where she was and shared her lonely darkness.
She slept and woke to find bread and water by her side. Famished, she carefully reached for the bread, savoring each bite.
And then a tiny ray of light broke through the gloom. Glancing down, she realized her wounds had been tended and a soft blanket covered her nakedness.
“You are not alone, my child. I am with you.”
“Lord? Is that you? I thought you hated me. That I wasn’t good enough for you to care.”
“Ah, my child, I loved you before you were ever born. You bid me go but I have always been with you. I heard your heart cry and I came to help you.”
A tear plowed a furrow down her cheek.
“Do not fear. Rest. I will be here when you waken.”
“Thank you.”
As the words came out of her mouth, there was a sound of a chain falling to the ground. The manacle remained on her wrist but her arm was free to move.
When she awoke, she whispered,
“Lord?”
“Yes?”
“I feel like a bird trapped in a cage, buried in a dungeon from which there’s no escape.”
“My child, I am your way of escape. Do you trust me?”
“Yes, Lord. I trust you.”
“Come with me.”
“But it is so dark. There are watchers on the wall. They will hurt me.”
“Nothing can touch you without my permission.”
“But Lord, it is dangerous and I am so weak.”
“Yes, it is dangerous. But I will strengthen you and protect you.”
Like you and I, Sandy has a choice. She can either cling to the blanket in her cell, or she can trust the Lord and allow Him help her stand.
And even though limited by chains around her legs she can step outside of her cell and face the darkness.
Are you ready to begin your journey to freedom?
