Grace in Disappointment

Benjamin Schmolk wrote a hymn with a great message “My Jesus, as Thou Wilt!”  The hymn is a rare gem and found in few hymnals.  It was written in German around the year 1700.  If you can’t find it in a hymnal on your shelf at home, look it up on The Cyber Hymnal.  It is a beautiful expression of the phrase in our Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done.”  When I think of the events surrounding Jacob’s life while dwelling in Padan Aram, the words to this hymn come to mind.

Schmolk wrote, “Into Thy hand of love I would my all resign.  Thro’ sorrow, or thro’ joy, conduct me as Thine own.”  I don’t think these words were sung so much by Jacob as by his wife Leah.  We all start life with hopes and dreams.  For Leah I am sure that they included a happy home with a caring husband.  Instead her own father used her as a means of deceit to get more work out of Jacob.  She was manipulated by her father and unloved by her husband.  Her chief rival was her own sister who was a pagan idolater.  However, in the midst of all this disappointment, we never find the character or faith of Leah to waver.  She steadfastly took care of her home, her family and her responsibilities with confident hope in God.  Genesis 29 through 35 should be labeled as Leah’s story.  In the end she prevails.  Her rival dies; her husband loves her and her son, not Rachel’s, becomes the announced heir and line of Christ.  It took years for this to play out.  Years fly by, but days and hours don’t.  During all those days and hours we can hear Leah singing the words of Schmolk’s great hymn.  Let us gracefully sing with her. 

My Jesus, as Thou wilt! Oh, may Thy will be mine! Into Thy hand of love I would my all resign; through sorrow, or through joy, conduct me as Thine own, and help me still to say, my Lord, Thy will be done!

My Jesus, as Thou wilt! If needy here and poor, give me Thy people’s bread, their portion rich and sure. The manna of Thy Word let my soul feed upon; and if all else should fail, my Lord, Thy will be done.

My Jesus, as Thou wilt! Though seen through many a tear, let not my star of hope grow dim or disappear; since Thou on earth hast wept, and sorrowed oft alone, if I must weep with Thee, my Lord, Thy will be done!

My Jesus, as Thou wilt! All shall be well for me; each changing future scene I gladly trust with Thee: straight to my home above I travel calmly on, and sing, in life or death, my Lord, Thy will be done!

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