GodSprings - 27, March, 2018

Is My Story Praising My Saviour All the Day Long?

And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”
Numbers 21:5

Blessed Assurance Jesus is Mine is a hymn which is 145 years old but still sung across in all churches. The hymn is written by Fanny Crosby. She was born in 1820. When she was just six weeks old she caught a cold. Her eyes became very inflamed and in a desperate measure to heal her, a country doctor put a mustard poultice on her eyes. She immediately lost her sight. But Fanny Crosby turned her affliction into an asset. She considered her blindness to be a blessing. She has written the words to more than 8000 gospel songs. The song Blessed Assurance captures the attention of even those who don’t know the history behind the song. I think it’s the spirit of the song especially the chorus which came directly from Fanny Crosby’s heart – This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Saviour all the day long. 

The Israelites are finally on the road to the promised land of Canaan. 40 years ago Lord had led them out of slavery in the land of Egypt. And now they’re finally making progress. They had complete victory over the heathen king of the city of Arad. (Num 21:1-3)

But now a small problem arises. Moses asked the king of Edom for permission to pass through his country as a shortcut. But the king did not agree. This meant that now the Israelites would have to go around spending more time in the desert. When they have spent 40 years in the desert a few extra weeks should not have been a problem. But we see that they grumble and complain.

Why do we complain and why do we grumble? We do so because something happens which is not according to our likes and desires. The most terrible thing that can happen at such a time is that we not only forget what God had done in the past but we also forget that God’s continued presence was there with us in the present too.

The Israelites forgot their fresh God given victory over the heathen king of Arad. They forgot that neither their clothes nor their sandals had worn out in all of those 40 years of travel in the desert. They forgot that they were led and fed throughout the journey.

What created doubt in their hearts? The Israelites allowed their circumstance to blind them to what they knew to be true. The bad situation made them to forget about God’s power and love which was their strength and strong hold in the past. Instead of basing their faith on what they knew to be true, they based their faith on what they feared might be true.

When we grumble and complain we are showing forth our unbelief in God’s sovereignty and his ability to work things out for His glory and our good. Just like Fanny Crosby can we develop an attitude and through our life witness and sing out no matter what our present circumstances are  - This is my story, This is my song, Praising my Saviour all the day long?