JUST AS I AM

How often do we allow difficult circumstances to dictate a very temporal worldview or a short sighted and sometimes selfish focus on life?

Charlotte Elliott of Brighton, England was an embittered woman.  Her health was broken and her disability had hardened her.  She muttered, “If God loved me, He would not have treated me this way.” 

In May, 1822, Dr. Cesar Malan, a Swiss minister, visited the Elliott family in hopes to help Charlotte.  Over dinner, Charlotte lost her temper and railed against God and family in a violent outburst.  Her embarrassed family left the room leaving her alone with Dr. Malan.

Dr. Malan said, “You are tired of yourself, aren’t you?”  As they talked, Charlotte softened.  “What is your cure?” she asked.  His answer, he explained, was the faith she was trying to despise.  “You should give yourself to God just as you are now, with your fightings and fears, your hates and loves, your pride and shame,” he encouraged her.  “You mean come to God…just as I am…right now?” she asked.

Charlotte did come just as she was.  She went on to write over 150 poems…but the one that garnered over one thousand letters of appreciation from around the world became the closing hymn at most of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Crusades.  What an important message is found in Charlotte’s wonderful song, JUST AS I AM.