My God, My Father While I Stray

Charlotte Elliott has written some of the most influential hymns of all time (Just As I Am). She be­came an in­val­id around age 30, and re­mained so for the rest of her life. About her phys­i­cal con­di­tion, El­li­ott wrote:

My Heavenly Father knows, and He alone, what it is, day af­ter day, and hour af­ter hour, to fight against bodily feelings of almost over­pow­er­ing weak­ness and lang­uor and ex­haust­ion, to re­solve, as He en­a­bles me to do, not to yield to the sloth­ful­ness, the de­press­ion, the ir­ri­ta­bil­i­ty, such as a bo­dy caus­es me to long to in­ dulge, but to rise ev­ery morn­ing de­term­ined on tak­ing this for my mot­to, "If any man will come af­ter me, let him de­ny him­self, take up his cross dai­ly, and fol­low me."

In Elliott's hymn, "My God, My Father While I Stray", she is qualified to point out that spiritual serenity ought to be cultivated in spite of the shaking mountains and agitated waters. The spiritual calm the Scriptures refer to does not come from a lack of troubles; nor does it come from having discerned God's will in advance.

It derives from a steady, deep reflection on the ways God has intervened in history on behalf of his people. It is "God's past" that provides calm for "our future." Know that he is God! Know it, not merely intellectually, but practically, spiritually, and emotionally. He is your God. He is the ruler of kingdoms of this earth and the all-powerful Creator of the Universe.