All the Way My Savior Leads Me

All the way my Savior leads me; What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who through life has been my Guide?
Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort, Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, whate’er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well;

All the way my Savior leads me, Cheers each winding path I tread;
Gives me grace for every trial, Feeds me with the living Bread.
Though my weary steps may falter, And my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the Rock before me, Lo! A spring of joy I see;

All the way my Savior leads me O the fullness of His love!
Perfect rest to me is promised In my Father’s house above.
When my spirit, clothed immortal, Wings its flight to realms of day
This my song through endless ages—Jesus led me all the way;

This particular hymn was written by one of the most profilic hymnwriters in Christian history – Fanny Crosby.  Most of you will probably remember that Ms. Crosby was blind from infancy due to a mistake made by the doctor that attended to her at birth.  This physical limitation, however, did not keep her from accomplishing some amazing things in her life including writing thousands of hymns and memorizing large passages of Scripture.  Two things are interesting about this particular hymn.  The first is the story behind it.  It is believed to have been written following a direct answer to prayer.  Ms. Crosby was in desperate need of rent money ($5 or $10), but had no idea where she would come up with the money.  She prayed about the matter, which was her usual custom, and then shortly thereafter a stranger appeared at her door with the exact amount of money.  I like to think that two people got a blessing that day.  First, Ms. Crosby because God provided a real life example of His care and provision for her.  I also like to think that the person who was sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading received a blessing because they were used in a miraculous way to help and encourage a fellow believer.  The second interesting thing to me about this story is a blind author talking about being led.  My guess is that Ms. Crosby was not only a spiritually strong person (as evidenced by the depth of her writings), but probably was fairly independent as well.  She probably did not want someone leading her around.  She did, however, recognize the fact that she needed God’s leadership in her life, and that He was leading all the way.

Couple of comments on certain phrases in the hymn:

• “Whatever befalls me, Jesus doeth all things well” – This is a really a strong statement of faith.  I believe the writer is saying that no matter what happens in life, I am not only confident in the fact that Jesus is leading, but that He does all things well.  His plans are not “spur of the moment” nor does he do a “half-way” job.  When He leads, He does it well.  When He guides, He does it well.  How do we respond during trying times in our life?  We trust that Jesus doeth all things well.  How do we respond when we get a bad report from the doctor?  We remind ourselves that Jesus doeth all things well.   That is a confidence in God that I am envious of.

• “My soul athirst may be – gushing from the Rock before me” –  This is a reference to the water that came from the rock when Moses was leading the Hebrews out of Egypt found in Exodus 17.  The people were thirsty and were grumbling to Moses to do something about it.  What I find interesting is how God chose to respond.  He could have done several things.  First, He could have chosen not to provide water at all because of their lack of faith and their grumbling.  He could have punished them instead.  Secondly, He could have sent rain.  That would have been a “natural” way to get water to them.  He could have led them to a river and had them drink from it, but He didn’t choose that either.  He chose to perform a miracle, but notice He did it only in the midst of the elders.  The people received the refreshing water, but they did not get to experience “first-hand” God’s miraculous power.  Fanny Crosby realized that during a needy or “thirsty” time in her life, God provided miraculously.  Not by normal means (finding money in a pants pocket or under the couch).  Not by coercive means (telling a friend how needy she was and then have them give her money).  God sent a stranger to meet her need at exactly the right time with the exact amount of money!  How cool, and refreshing, was that!

Are you familiar with the GPS (Global Positioning System) devices or Navigation systems that are available for cars today?  It is really a neat technology.  I believe it was probably developed by men for men who were too embarrassed to ask for directions.  These systems tell you where your car is at any given moment.   They can give you directions to a restaurant, gas station, hotel, or you can even input an address and it is supposed to lead you to where you are going.  One of these systems even has a human name (TomTom) and will talk to you, and tell you exactly when to exit the interstate, when to turn right or left, etc.  However, I have found that these systems are not 100% reliable.  I have been on a trip before where the navigation system got us to the city we were going to, and got us in the vicinity of where we were supposed to be, but it did not lead us to our destination.  I also know that the maps in these systems are sometimes incomplete because even in the newer systems, the street I live on does not show up even though our neighborhood is 3 years old.

This hymn reminds us that Jesus leads us “all the way.”  Unlike certain GPS systems, His leadership is 100% reliable.  He doesn’t get us “close” to where we need to be, or take us half-way and let us figure the rest of the way out on our own.  He is constantly leading and guiding.  Sometimes our path maybe very clear with few detours, and we can feel like we are in the center of His will, and are in tune with His every instruction.  Other times, it may seem that we are “wandering” and are taking the long way around.  If, however, we truly believe that He is leading, and as this hymn says, He doeth all things well, we can trust His leadership.   Finally, we can be 100% confident that there is no “detour”, “roadstop,” or destination on our journey that He is unfamiliar with.  There is not a trial or temptation that we will have to endure that He has not paved the way before us.  He will not forget us, or lead us into “unchartered territory.”  No, His map for your life is 100% complete. 

So I encourage you.  Take a moment to slow down, pause and listen to His voice leading.  Follow His commands.  Trust His direction.  As Proverbs 3:6 says, “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy paths,”  and remember that Jesus doeth all things well.