Samidun Soya Yana Gamane Lyrics by Bro. Charles Thomas

On the journey to seek the Lord,
a slave like me is unworthy
cast on me a glance of refuge from your eyes,
for in receiving you, a new road begins
On the journey to seek the Lord….

The time I spent weighed down with sin,
the path I walked with an evil heart
by meeting you, Jesus,
I won the victory, my heart filled with peace
On the journey to seek the Lord

Not hatred but love is your way
I gave my life for the freeing of all people
the Lord’s comfort, all my life,
giving protection and cool relief
On the journey to seek the Lord…

Having found the Lord, we became one heart,
and the road we walk broke into flower
let us spread the reign of the Lord’s love,
the sound of Christ, across the whole earth
On the journey to seek the Lord,
a slave like me is unworthy
cast on me a glance of refuge from your eyes,
for in receiving you, a new road begins
On the journey to seek the Lord….

This is a hymn of conversion and mission, tracing the arc from an unworthy sinner to a joyful witness. It begins in humility, “on the journey to seek the Lord, a slave like me is unworthy,” and asks only for a “glance of refuge” from God’s eyes, trusting that “in receiving you, a new road begins.” The whole life is imagined as a journey, and meeting God is the point where the path changes direction.

The middle verse looks back honestly at what came before, “the time I spent weighed down with sin, the path I walked with an evil heart,” and marks the decisive turn: “by meeting you, Jesus, I won the victory, my heart filled with peace.” Salvation here is felt above all as peace, the settling of a heart that had been at war. And it names the character of God’s way, “not hatred but love,” recalling that Christ “gave his life for the freeing of all people.”

The final verse turns outward. Having “found the Lord, we became one heart,” a community, not just an individual, and “the road we walk broke into flower,” a lovely image of a life made fruitful and beautiful by grace. From that joy comes the mission: “let us spread the reign of the Lord’s love, the sound of Christ, across the whole earth.” What the listener is left with is the full shape of a converted life, humble at the start, at peace in the middle, and reaching outward at the end to share with the world the love that changed its own road.