By Gobel Brockman
Joseph Scriven was born in Ireland in 1819. When he was 25 years old he had met the girl of his dreams, and they were to be married. Sadly, his fiance drowned in a tragic accident the day before their wedding. Soon afterward he moved to Canada to begin a new life. While working as a teacher he met another lady by the name of Eliza Roche, and soon they were in love and engaged. However, tragedy struck once again as his fiance became ill and passed away before they could be married. Through all of his heartbreak, his faith in Christ remained strong. It is reported that he spent the rest of his life unmarried but fulfilled, giving of his time and money to minister to others, telling all who would listen about the love of Jesus Christ. Around the same time that Eliza passed away he received word that his mother in Ireland was very ill. Unable to go and be with her, he wrote her a letter of comfort and shared with her a poem that he had written. Here is a portion of that poem:
What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bare
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer
Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Oh, what needless pain we bare
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer
Have we trials and temptations
Is there trouble anywhere
We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer
Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share
Jesus knows our every weakness
Take it to the Lord in prayer
Joseph Scriven had learned a valuable lesson, and you and I would do well to follow his example. Faced with heartache and loss, he didn't lose heart or lose faith. He didn't blame God or feel that God had abandoned him; he continued to draw closer to God, knowing that the Holy Spirit would comfort him. You and I can - and will - face loss, illness, death of loved ones, and many other painful life events. If anyone told you that becoming a Christian meant that you would never suffer, they lied to you. None of us are exempt from the negative things that life can bring. There's a Bible verse that says, "His rain falls on the just and the unjust." The question is when we as Christians face these times, how will we respond? Will we do as Mr. Scriven did and draw closer to God, or will we blame Him for our misfortunes and walk away from our faith? One thing I've noticed about people is that we're very quick to blame God for the bad things in life, but slow or even neglectful to thank Him for the good.
In John 6 Jesus had just delivered a very hard message to the people following Him. As a result the Bible says that "...from that moment many turned away and no longer followed Him." The Bible goes on to say that Jesus turned around to the twelve disciples and asked them, "Will you leave also?" I love Simon Peter's response: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life..." I love that mindset; there's no one else we can go to but Jesus. I can't promise you an uneventful, pain-free future, but what I can promise you is that you don't have to face it alone. You and I have a friend in Jesus, and He loves us enough to carry our sins and griefs. We can go to prayer with our problems and know that God has the power to either get us out of it or take us through it. Don't give up, don't give in.
What a friend Joseph Scriven had in Jesus. What a friend you have in Jesus.
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