Blessed Assurance

“During the re­cent war in the Trans­vaal,” said a gen­tle­man at my meet­ing in Ex­e­ter Hall, Lon­don, in 1900, “when the sol­diers go­ing to the front were pass­ing ano­ther bo­dy of sol­diers whom they re­cog­nized, their greet­ings used to be, ‘Four-nine-four, boys; four-nine-four;’ and the sa­lute would in­var­i­a­bly be an­swered with ‘Six fur­ther on, boys; six fur­ther on.’ The sig­nif­i­cance of this was that, in ‘Sac­red Songs and So­los,’ a num­ber of co­pies of the small edi­tion of which had been sent to the front, num­ber 494 was ‘God be with you un­til we meet again;’ and six fur­ther on than 494, or num­ber 500, was ‘Bless­ed As­sur­ance, Je­sus is mine.’”

I shut down my laptop, I had my quiet time and I sang this hymn. I read the story, of how Phoebe P. Knapp, the composer, played a tune, her new composition and soon Fanny J. crosby was clapping her hands and exclaimed, "Why, that says 'Blessed Assurance'!"
I am not exaggerating in anyway but I am really WOWed by the hymn and the story, the powerful words and Crosby's God-given talent. She was blind but it was as if her sight is very strong. What are our eyes for if not for the Lord?
I told myself then, I could not just let this go, I must write all these down. I want to remember this.

Blessèd assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

Only in our full submission to God, that we find perfect joy, perfect delight. Only through fully surrendering to Him that we can be at peace. And imagine someone blind yet wrote about visions of rapture now burst on her sight. Rapture : the event in which all Christians on earth simultaneously ascend to join Christ, and are transformed into immortal bodies. Isn't that vision precious? So precious compared to much much things seen on earth.

I particularly like the last verse. The words are so beautiful : Filled with His goodness, lost in His love. Doesn't this really show how deep her love is for her Saviour? only when she understood His perfect love then she can do that. While I sang this part, I sang in awe of how God has used her to bless so many. Doesn't this show the world that though she was blind, and the world saw her as a weakling but her works said these about her " I am weak but He made me strong ".
She was blind, but she watched and waited, looked above. Shouldn't we, those who are blessed with the ability to see, learn from her ?

Open the eyes of our heart Lord, that we, too, can see the greatness of Your mercy, understand the depth of Your love and to be able to love You not through words only, but through our life.