August 15, 2005

Have faith in God –
Not lawless defection;
Have faith in God –
Christ's life our perfection;
Have faith in God –
In Him no rejection.
Have faith, dear friend, in God.

Have Thine Own Way, Lord

Adelaide Addison Pollard, 1862-1934

    Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8.

    An elderly woman at a prayer meeting one night pleaded, "It really doesn't matter what you do with us, Lord, just have Your own way with our lives." At this meeting was Adelaide Pollard, a rather well-known itinerant Bible teacher who was deeply discouraged because she had been unable to raise the necessary funds for a desired trip to Africa to do missionary service. She was moved by the older woman's sincere and dedicated request of God.
    At home that evening Miss Pollard meditated on Jeremiah 18:3, 4. Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels, and the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
    Before retiring that evening, Adelaide Pollard completed the writing of all four stanzas of this hymn as it is sung today. The hymn first appeared in published form in 1907.
    Often into our lives come discouragement and heartaches that we cannot understand. As children of God, however, we must learn never to question the ways of our sovereign God -- but simply say:

Have Faith in God by H.M.S. Richards, Used by Permission