OH, LOVE THAT WILL NOT LET ME GO

 

Thursday, December 9, 2021

 

OH, LOVE THAT WILL NOT LET ME GO

 

Job 23:8-10

8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

 

 

          We long to know the future, to peer through the window at tomorrow and prepare, but God is in charge of tomorrow. Job could not “perceive” him but knew he was there. God does his work imperceptibly and when we can’t see him working we must trust.

 

          I’ve walked through cemeteries and noticed stones with only the date of birth inscribed. The owner has not yet died, and the chisel waits to carve the expiration date. Only God knows these things and I am glad He knows.

 

George Matheson was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1842. Before he reached the age of two, it was discovered that his eyesight was defective. He, his parents, and the specialists fought a heroic fight, but before George had finished his course at Glasgow University, he was completely blind. With courage and faith, he graduated with honors in philosophy, studied for the ministry, and in a few years' time became the minister of one of the largest churches in Edinburgh, where he carried on a memorable ministry. In addition to his laborious preparation of his services he did a great deal of parish visitation, wrote numerous articles and twelve books, and continued his own studies throughout his life.

 

It must have been heartbreaking for George Matheson's parents to have a strange infection in their baby's eyes lead to his blindness. Yet, in that tragic situation George Matheson found God's resources available for him. God poured into his heart the courage, resourcefulness, and grim perseverance that gave him victory over his handicap. Through it all his faith grew stronger, and after twenty years of blindness he wrote:

 

 O Love that will not let me go,

 I rest my weary soul in Thee!

 I give Thee back the life I owe,

 That in Thine Ocean depths its flow

 May richer, fuller be.

 

   --James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) pp. 273-274.

 

Dear Lord, I am glad that you know the way that I take and that once the trials are over, I shall come forth as gold. AMEN