O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go (SBH 402, focus on verses 3-4)
1 O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee.
I give thee back the life I owe,
that in thine ocean depths its flow
may richer, fuller be.
2 O Light that follows all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to thee.
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
that in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
may brighter, fairer be.
3 O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee.
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
and feel the promise is not vain,
that morn shall tearless be.
4 O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee.
I lay in dust, life’s glory dead,
and from the ground there blossoms red,
life that shall endless be.
Devotion
As I end my week devotional reflections for God Pause, I give a shout out of thanks to Luther Seminary for the honor of sharing these devotions with so many dedicated listeners. It has been a joy! Which leads me to the third of the four stanzas of the chosen hymn., “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go.” My ministry over 45 years has been punctuated at times by those who seek to understand the juxtaposition of joy and pain. Somehow there are those who think being a Christian means to see hardship as an exception, and even less to be able to find joy in those moments. In John’s Gospel, the crucifixion of our Lord was the moment of glory. Verse three captures this seemingly paradoxical idea of expressing joy through pain, of tracing the rainbow through the rain, and seeing that God’s promises are not in vain. We end where we began, with the mysterious ways of God—a cross lifted up, blossoms emerging from the ground, the gift of endless life!
Prayer
O Lord, we dare not ask to fly from thee. May we rest in you even as pain and hardship attend us. Grant the flickering torch of freedom to never die. Light our path that every morn be tearless in your grace. Amen.