I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to trust God even during the hard times. Yesterday I shared with the staff the story behind the old hymn ’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus. This hymn was written by a lady named Lousia M. R. Stead back in the 1800s. Some of the words to the song are as follows:
Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise, just to know, “Thus saith the Lord.”
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!
C. Michale Hawn writes this about what led to Mrs. Stead writing this hymn:
“When [their] child was four years of age, the family decided one day to enjoy the sunny beach at Long Island Sound, New York. While eating their picnic lunch, they suddenly heard cries of help and spotted a drowning boy in the sea. Mr. Stead charged into the water. As often happens, however, the struggling boy pulled his rescuer under water with him, and both drowned before the terrified eyes of wife and daughter. Out of her ‘why?’ struggle with God during the ensuring days glowed these meaningful words from the soul of Louisa Stead.”
In the hymn, Mrs. Stead acknowledged that the only way to get through this tragedy was to cling to God’s promises. She reminded us that she could trust God even in the hard times because He had proven Himself faithful so many times before. And in the end she prayed for even more grace to be able trust God in the future.
This week marks the anniversary of the school’s tremendous loss of one of our beloved students, Mongameli. It is at times like these that we are reminded of God’s promises and that we must trust Him as the Almighty God who loves us more than we could ever imagine. This morning at our staff devotion time, Ms. Madu defined trust as “surrendering the outcome that you feel is the only good outcome that a good God should write.” Isn’t it amazing that we often think we know what is best for us, even more so than God? As a kid I memorized Proverbs 3:5 and 6 that say, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.” This week when I was pondering trust, I saw that this verse can also be translated into English as “in all your ways submit to Him.” I must admit that I don’t like that version as much. Submitting our own will, even to God, just isn’t exactly what we want to do. That’s probably why we find it so hard to trust Him sometimes.
I encourage you to spend some time going through the Bible to see how many verses you can find that talk about trusting God. It’s a great study that helps us to take our eyes off our circumstances and focus them on the Sovereign God.
A huge thanks to all who planned and attended the picnic and soccer game that were held in Mongameli’s memory on Wednesday. The high school team won the King Nangu Trophy, which the Nangu family will hold onto for us until next year when there will be a rematch. Thank you, Ms. Gerdes, for caring for our school community by ensuring that we support each other as we continue to grieve our great loss. Please keep the Nangu family in your prayers.
Because of His Faithfulness,
Sharon Brobst, Ed.D.
Director