Outside I was in years gone by
In joyous days and bright, blue skies
When down sweet ways my spirit strolled
As days of heaven filled my soul
Inside I am with longing eyes
In shadows sitting with surprise
I look without from grief within
Will life return to where it’s been?
I wait, I wait, but still inside
This cell called pain I fast reside
How long, O Lord? I weep, I cry
In morning’s light the night arrives
No end in sight, I wake each day
My dreams are past, my nightmares stay
Confined alone I pace my cell
How quickly life can turn to hell
“Cheer up!” ring voices from without
“Life is good!” they sing and shout
Laughing, playing, hand in hand
Where they are now I understand
I once was there and found it hard
To sympathize with prison yards
It wasn’t me, I knocked on wood
I just was blessed, I must be good
But what a difference is the view
When trouble comes to me, not you
When my own soul cries out in pain
When light is gone and darkness gains
I know, I feel, I groan with all
It took real pain to breach the wall
Which kept my heart from knowing well
The house in which the hurting dwell
Outside You were in happy past
From earthly griefs and devil’s blast
When days of heaven filled Your soul
Where angels walked in joy untold
Why would You come into all this
And leave behind a life of bliss?
When You could dwell in heaven’s rays
And from far distance on us gaze
Inside You came to world of woe
By Your own choice our pain to know
What God is this, what love so rare
That came within to sorrows share
My Jesus, You are here with me
From suffering You were not free
Inside my pain You came and dwelt
Each grief I know You also felt
And now with You I look without
I know the day will come about
When hand in hand outside we’ll step
Into new world where pain is left
But till that day when sorrow’s past
When joy returns and ever lasts
I’ll pull up closer next to You
Who sits with me and shares my view