"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
Related upcoming events
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02/05/2024 - 03/05/2024 All day“That is why for Christ’s sake I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:10)
We all crave to be blessed in life. But was there a believer who was so blessed beyond any circumstances without experiencing some sort of discomfort, in one way or another! A person may apparently be blessed in every single way yet have one troubling matter that constantly drives him down to his knees.
The one mightily blessed with riches may have a family situation that leaves him ever on edge. Someone who seems to be at the height of his profession may be living with an ailment that keeps him ever on tentacles. The one blessed with abundant health might from time to time be dealing with financial woes.
Why do such troubling situations plague even believers? One explanation could be found in the Apostle Paul’s life. Called into ministry and endowed with many gifts, including amazing revelations from above, yet he had a matter that constantly drove him on his knees. “Therefore in order to keep me from being conceited, I was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan, to torment me” (2 Cor 12: 7).
Paul would often cry out to God to free him of this particularly troubling matter. But the Lord came back with, “My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in your weakness” (2 Cor 12: 9).
The comfort of this lesson is that God is completely aware of whatever might be ever troubling us. Moreover, it could be purposely there, that we constantly place our faith in Him, other than relying on our strength and resources, especially as He blesses us in other uplifting ways.
Prayer for today: Lord Father in heaven, today I pray that whatever matter is constantly troubling me, I know it is for a purpose and you are in total control, to bless me even more, this I pray in Jesus’ name.
