"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" - Philippians 1:21 (NIV).
There is a hymn, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine" common to many with deep insightful meaning worth reflection here. The writer of these lyrics, Fanny Crosby, was an orphan who was diagnosed as blind at age three. She later trained as a musician and would go on to use her lyrical gifts to compose over 8000 hymns!
When she wrote, "Praising my saviour all day long" one might think of a privileged composer boastful of her possessions. Yet if anything aside from her being disabled and unable to write (her compositions and poems would be transcribed by someone else) Fanny was not spared of grief. She lost her only child to typhoid. In spite of her prodigious writings, she was cheated by her publishers and earned just a pittance. In the last years of her life she was found living in poverty.
In spite of a life beset with many hardships, Fanny wrote, "all is at rest," and that "I in my Savior am happy and blest"! The last stanza of one of her best hymns concludes, "Filled with His goodness, lost in His love" to the famous chorus, "This is my story, this is my song!"
Every life has a song. We can choose a tune that constantly complains of our poor run. But Fanny chose otherwise. Once she noted, "It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me. “What a positive and encouraging outlook to life, which is there for all of us
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I thank you for the circumstances of my life, of which I find a lot to praise and look to life with hope, this I pray in Jesus's name
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17/05/2024 - 18/05/2024 All day“And I in righteousness I shall see your face; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with seeing your likeness” (Psalm 17:15)
One of the defining aspects we see in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ is that He began the day with prayer. “Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35). As he was always surrounded by crowds and after such a busy day before of preaching and engaging the Pharisees in debates this must have been a therapeutic moment for Christ when he would have some good time to himself.
But there was also more. For Jesus being away in a secluded place would also mean a chance to pour out His heart to God, meditate in quietness, plan for the day ahead and listen to the Father. Jesus must have looked up to this moment every day knowing its benefits. Conversations with His Father must have been real and intimate, bringing a certain soothing and uplifting of His spirit. You do not wake up and stick to something on a daily basis that is a drag – this must have been his best time of the day!
Martin Luther the leader of the protestant reformation is reputed to once have said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” Here is the point. In the olden days before the arrival of locomotive transport those who were setting out for a long journey on foot had to start early with the first cock crow before the punishing sun came out. One of the things they had to start with also was a good meal, which was fuel needed to give them energy through the long walk to their destiny.
There are no rules about waking up to pray as first thing- or even saying prayer at a defined hour of the day. God is everywhere and ever with us. He is accessible at any time of the day. But there is something special about prioritizing our lives that the first thing we do is to talk to God. Just like the early traveller we need fuel, for the long day ahead!
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, what a joy and privilege to make time at the start of any day, talk and hear from you, for the power I need through the day, this I pray in Jesus’ name!
