“When my wife died the world seemed to die with her. I see little now, but my ministry and my Christian profession, to make a continuance in life, for a single day, desirable; though I am willing to wait until my appointed time. If the world cannot restore her to me, it can do nothing for me. The Bank of England is too poor to compensate for such a loss as mine. But the Lord, the all-sufficient God, speaks, and it is done. Let those who know Him, and trust Him, be of good courage. He can give them strength according to their day; He can increase their strength as their trials are increased, to any assignable degree. And what He can do, He has promised He will do.”
John Newton (1725-1807), former slave trader, preacher, and author of the famous hymn, Amazing Grace (1799), in “A Relation of some Particulars, respecting the Cause, Progress, and Close of the last Illness of my late dear Wife,” in The Works of the Rev. John Newton, Volume IV (New Haven: Nathan Whiting, 1824) 212.
Why conclude Lent with this statement from Newton?
Everyone reading this has experienced brokenness, is currently enduring difficulty, or will someday suffer great trials. The gospel is not a magic wand to make our troubles go away. In the midst of our pain, Newton rightly announces, “But the Lord, the all-sufficient God, speaks, and it is done.” Jesus proclaims peace! Because of the resurrection that we celebrate today, we know that all Jesus promised He will do, and someday, thanks to His great love and grace, He will make all things new.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
As we move from this season of Lent (where we have focused on growing in our understanding and practice of the disciplines of prayer, fasting, and giving to those in need) to living the rest of our lives, let us depend on the strength of God to share the precious gift of the peace of Christ in word and deed with a lost and hurting world. Should trials bombard us along the way, Newton would remind each of us to proclaim: ’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.