I Know Whom I Have Believed

It has been three weeks since my last post, and for that I apologize. I could explain the many issues that have been weighing on my mind and time over those weeks, but that would not justify not posting. This blog is one of the ways in which I serve my friends and family from whom I live so far away, and my own times of trouble should lead to a deeper service, not less. In truth, I have allowed my own troubles to distract me from this service, and for that I ask your forgiveness.

The hymn that I chose for today, though, is related to that. I Know Whom I Have Believèd, was written by Daniel Webster Whittle and published in 1883. For those of you who are saying to yourselves, "that name sounds familiar," it should, as I've previously written about two of his other hymns, Moment by Moment and They Tell Me The Story of Jesus Is Old. He has rapidly joined the ranks of my favorite hymnwriters, and you should expect to see more of his hymns on this blog in the future. It's set to a tune by James McGranahan.

So why this hymn today? As I said, these last several weeks have been difficult. Several family health scares combined with the stresses of the second year of law school have stretched me beyond my own ability to cope. And yet, through it all, I know Whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day. Even when life seems to be at its darkest, He never changes. That is the beautiful hope that we have. No matter how this world may change, He never does. No matter how much this earth shakes, He shall not be moved. Why do we fear when the earth rolls and buckles underneath us? It is because when it does, it takes with it everything we have built on it instead of on the Rock. The foolish man builds his house upon the sand, but the wise man builds his life upon Jesus Christ, the only sure foundation.

There are a lot of things I don't know and never will know this side of the Resurrection. I don't understand how God works sometimes. Sometimes I begin to doubt Him because I see things in this world that strike me deeply. I was heartbroken to see the news of Garissa. It was horrifying to watch the video from South Carolina of a police officer shooting a man in the back. And yet I contrast the despair that seems to come so easily with the example of my grandmother.

My grandmother just turned 90 years old, and I went home to visit her. I know that she has seen horrific atrocities and tremendous tragedies in the 90 years that she's been alive. In her lifetime alone, she has seen the Great Depression, the Holocaust, the brutal regimes of Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, and their ilk, the My Lai massacre, the Rwandan genocide, the wars and atrocities in the former Yugoslavia, the attacks on September 11, 2001, and the list goes on. Personally, she has experienced disappointment, physical pain, emotional turmoil, and property loss. When my grandfather died, she was in the room singing Because He Lives. Recently, she has had moments of tremendous pain, and she just wants to go home to Jesus. My grandmother is a woman who knows Whom she has believed.

I want that to be me, not in 70 years, but today. I want people to look at me and say, "He knows Whom he has believed." My name, Timothy, means "honoring God." When Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy, he said, "for I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well." (2 Timothy 1:5 NASB). I am blessed with a wonderful heritage. The one in whom I have believed is also known by all four of my grandparents, both of my parents, and all three of my sisters. That heritage does not make me a believer. As someone I knew once put it, Christianity is the only religion you can't be born into. You have to be reborn into it. 

But what that heritage does is provides me with examples. I can look at the faith of my father and mother, and my grandfathers and grandmothers, and I can see the ways in which God has met their needs. I can see the ways in which God has revealed Himself to them, and when I am at my lowest ebb and all of God's promises feel so empty, I have people surrounding me, coming into my life to pour the love and power of God out on me.

In three days I will be commissioning in the United States Navy. I am excited, and I am sure that my time in the Navy will be filled with both golden days and weary ways. But through it all, He never changes. "Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:11-13 NASB). Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, and because I know Whom I have believed, I can have hope in whatever trial I may face.

I know not why God’s wondrous grace
To me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own.

 

But I know whom I have believèd,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.

I know not how this saving faith
To me He did impart,
Nor how believing in His Word
Wrought peace within my heart.

Refrain

I know not how the Spirit moves,
Convincing men of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word,
Creating faith in Him.

Refrain

I know not what of good or ill
May be reserved for me,
Of weary ways or golden days,
Before His face I see.

Refrain

I know not when my Lord may come,
At night or noonday fair,
Nor if I walk the vale with Him,
Or meet Him in the air.

Refrain

(Public Domain)