My Savior First of All

You probably noticed that I highlighted several phrases in this hymn and all of them relate to things the author sees with her eyes.  These phrases have a lot more meaning when you know the “behind-the-scenes” story of the writer of this hymn – Fanny Crosby.  Fanny Crosby authored over 8,000 hymns in her life.  There were other great accomplishments in her life, including the ability to quote chapters and even entire books of the Bible by memory.  However, what makes her story more unique is the fact that Fanny Crosby accomplished all of these things while being blind from about six weeks of age.  Because of an incorrect diagnosis and/or prescription of the wrong medicine, Fanny lost her sight at a very young age.  This story makes the phrases in this hymn all the more meaningful. 

The following story is told about Fanny Crosby and an encounter she had with a well-intentioned minister.  The minister said to her, “I think it is a great pity that the Master, when he showered so many gifts upon you, did not give you sight.”  Mrs. Crosby replied, “Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition to my Creator, that it would have been that I should be born blind?”  Surprisingly, the minister asked “Why?”  She replied, “Because, when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior.” 

There are two important things I take from Fanny Crosby’s story.  The first is perspective.  How does a lady that has been essentially blind from birth write hymns like “Blessed Assurance,” “To God be the Glory,” “Near the Cross,” and “Draw me Nearer?”  How does someone keep from becoming bitter in a situation where someone else’s mistake cost her one of the most important physical gifts we can have –our sight? The answer is perspective.  She understood the important things in life.  She recognized that God’s grace is so much greater than wallowing in self-pity or crying “woe is me.”  How much more has she impacted the world positively for God by keeping the right perspective about what is important and what is eternal!  What a lesson we could all learn from her.  The way we look at our problems is often influenced by the problems of others around us.  If others are doing well, we think our problems are bad.  If others are struggling with family issues, physical pain, death, etc., we don’t think our problems are as bad.  But, how much more trivial our problems become in light of eternity and the blessing we have as believers to spend eternity in a place with no more sorrow, sickness, or death.  We get to go to a beautiful place that God has prepared for us, and dwell with Him forever! 

The second thing the story of Fanny Crosby reminds me of is a concept that the Apostle Paul wrote about in 2 Corinthians Chapter 12.  Paul wrote about a “thorn in the flesh” and the Bible says that he prayed that the Lord would remove it from him.  God’s response was “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Paul changed from praying that this weakness be removed to boasting about his weaknesses.  In verse 10 of that chapter, he says “…for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  God takes the things of this world that are weak, broken, imperfect, and “foolish” in the eyes of the world, and uses them to do mighty things.  All of us have weaknesses and imperfections in our life.  Some may have a certain personality trait that might be a weakness.  Others may come from a family situation that really wasn’t that great and you deal with that on an ongoing basis.  Others may have physical restrictions or limitations.  We have probably been like Paul and asked God to remove these weaknesses from our lives, but have not had our prayer answered.  Maybe God is saying to you – “My strength is made perfect in your weakness.”  Those are not easy words to hear, but may be the reality for us.  Like the Apostle Paul and Fanny Crosby, these weaknesses should not keep us from doing great things for God.                   

I encourage you to not let a weakness in your life keep you from being all that you can be for God.  If we keep a heavenly perspective and recognize that God can receive the glory in whatever situation we find ourselves in, then we can be used, like Fanny Crosby, to make an impact in our world.