There’s something wrong with all of us, but it’s best to simply ignore our limitations and plunge headfirst into what God calls us to do. For example, I was reading today about Thomas Hastings, who was an albino (as were three of his siblings). He was also afflicted with eye problems and a speech defect. He came from a poor family that moved by ox sledge to Clinton, New York, when he was a boy, and he had little formal training.
Yet Thomas taught himself the rudiments of music, and as a teenager he began directing his church choir. When he was a young man, Thomas became such a popular singing school instructor that twelve difference churches in New York City wanted him to direct their music. During his life, Thomas penned fifty volumes of church music, including a thousand hymn tunes and hundreds of hymn texts. He’s often credited with being the single greatest force in shaping the nature and development of church music in America. He’s best remembered for giving us the melodies like: “Rock of Ages,” “Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned,” and “From Every Stormy Wind that Blows,” which I have posted below.
Hastings died in his eighties in New York City on May 15, 1872, but he’s a great example of someone whose enthusiasm for Christ overcame every disadvantage and liability. I think it’s a great lesson. There’s something wrong with all of us, but there’s nothing wrong with the Christ we serve.
From every stormy wind that blows,
From every swelling tide of woes,
There is a calm, a sure retreat;
’Tis found beneath the mercy seat.
There is a place where Jesus sheds
The oil of gladness on our heads;
A place than all besides more sweet;
It is the blood bought mercy seat.
Oh, let my hand forget her skill,
My tongue be silent, cold, and still,
This bounding heart forget to beat,
If I forget the mercy seat!