Last year while visiting the home of my former class teacher, all of ninety-six years, she asked me to sing to her and I sang my favourite, ‘If His Eye Is On the Sparrow!” In my mind I wanted to leave her with the assurance that if a God above could be concerned about a little sparrow, then surely He would be more than concerned about her. It was later I decided to get to know more about this song, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the same songwriter had penned another favourite of mine, ‘God Will Take Care of You!’
And how did that hymn come about? One Sunday morning, the story goes, the Rev Stillman Martin was invited to preach at a church some distance away. And then it was he found his wife was very ill. He was just preparing to cancel his speaking engagement and be with her, since he would be gone for a considerable number of hours, when their young son spoke up saying, “Father, don’t you think that if God wants you to preach today, He will take care of mother while you are away?”
Agreeing with his son, Rev Stillman kept his preaching appointment, and the service proved to be unusually blessed by God.
Returning that evening he found his wife, Civilla, greatly improved and she had also spent her time, writing the words of this beautiful new hymn, inspired by the words of their son.
Yes, God will take care of us, when we are doing the work He wants us to do.
I do remember an incident, when I was asked to speak and conduct a memorial service for a former employee of the Late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
A few days before the memorial service, I lost my voice. ‘Lord,’ I prayed, ‘If You want me to speak, give me back my voice!’ I prayed, but no voice returned. The day arrived and the wife of the person who the memorial was for, and who had been insistent I conduct it, looked uncertainly at me, as she heard unintelligible sounds coming from my throat. Just before I started the service, I handed out hymn sheets, then went into another room, and called a friend, “Please pray for me!” I told him, “That if it is meant for me to speak, God will give me a voice to speak. We started the first hymn, and I croaked through the first verse, and then suddenly in the next verse, my voice came back in absolute totality, and I raised it to the rafters as I sang out.
Yes, dear friends, God will take care of you, if you are doing what He has placed you here to do, and when that work is done, He will still take care of you as He takes you up, to be with Him..!
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Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and writes a daily column, which has graced the pages of over 60 newspapers and magazines, from a daily column in the Khaleej Times, Dubai, the Morning Star, London, and in nearly every state in India, from The Statesman in Kolkata, to the Kashmir Times in Kashmir to the Trinity Mirror in Chennai.
Great inspiring message. God never fails and never abandons us.God always fulfills need.
Thankfully you got back your voice in time. For some reason if it had not happened, be assured, God would have had a higher purpose by not restoring your voice. And, that is the faith one should place in God. Trust, you agree with me.
Oh yes, you’re absolutely right dear friend!
O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him – Psalm 34:8.
The power of faith-filled prayer.
Thanks for reminding me about this song we all sung last year this time when we classmates met for our 50th school year reunion. Every time I practiced this song at home, tears would flow down.. reminding me of how God took care of me especially during my terrible illness and how miraculous a recovery He gave me..
God definitely takes care.Once it happened that my mother was sick. As I had taken 45 days leave to be beside her there was no leave pending. Just praying God to take care of her left for work.When I returned home she said that a young girl had taken good care for her. I had not asked any one to be beside her. Nor my mother knew her. And after that day mother’s recovery was faster. GOD definitely takes care. Only we need to submit yourself at the Holy lotus feet.
Thank you for reminding the wonderful story and songs.
I love the song.His eye is on the sparrow too is a lovely song.Thank you so much Bobby for sharing your experience of our On Time God who isn’t bound by time and space,neither slumbers nor sleeps, nor overlooks our needs. He watches ue,watches over us and watches out for us as Pastor Arun Andrews once preached to us. God is good to all, all the time.
Thanks for sharing this!
Even just the thought that there is a God who’s there to take of you is so calming to one’s soul.
I used to play this song for my MIL (a Brahmin Hindu lady at 88) when she was agitated and it calmed her instantly.
https://youtu.be/eOULboTFnNg
Hi Jean. Yes, the very tune is comforting, and what I failed to mention was that though the words were written by the wife, the tune was composed by the Rev himself.
Cool info, thanks.
Thankyou !Booby for these encouraging words “God will take care of us.” We we are so blessed to have our Father in heaven who takes care of us .We are inadequate but he is adequate. He wants us to walk in his adequacy. Thank you Jesus!
Yes…it’s just so amazing to experience how God takes care of His children….when His eye is on the sparrow how much more concern He’ll have for His children…