Gail Johnson

As a singer, it’s never enough just to sing a song. I want to know who wrote it and what moved them to put pen to paper and tell the world their inner thoughts. The more I know about the song, the more the words resonate with me as I realize this person understands my present struggles.

Charles Tindley/Wikimedia

As a budding author, my eyes often wandered to the upper right-hand corner of the page in search of the author.

I noticed the songs Nothing Between, Stand By Me, We’ll Understand It Better By and By, and Leave It There had something in common. They were all written by Charles A. Tindley.

I thought I would share what I found about this brave and humble man.

Robert J. Morgan in his book, Then Sings My Soul, Volume 2 tells the following:

Born into slavery.
He used bits of newspaper found along the roadside to teach himself the ABC’s
Took correspondence courses. “Thus while I was unable to go through the schools, I was able to let the schools go through me.”
Called an unlettered ignoramus
Became a pastor
Established soup kitchens
Opened his church to the homeless in cold weather
Knew criticism, abuse, hard and many opposition

Did he understand the depth of what he was writing? I believe so.

Do I?

When I sing those familiar songs, do I sing them with the same passion as he felt when putting pen to paper? I wonder.

I admit, it’s easy to open my mouth and let the words fly out without ever thinking about the message. But when I think of all this man went through, something inside me begins to stir.

For the same God that he wrote about is the same God I serve today. And no matter what may come my way He will never fail me.

I believe Charles A. Tindley knew, understood, and wrote about that truth.

Stand By Me~Charles Albert Tindley ~Public Domain

When the storms of life are raging, Stand by me; When the storms of life are raging, Stand by me. When the world is tossing me, Like a ship upon the sea, Thou Who rulest wind and water, Stand by me.

Read more here

Stand by Me is a prayer from a determined heart who understands his relationship with his God. It is about casting all cares on God because He cares for us, and then standing on His promises knowing He will deliver.

If you’re interested in more on this subject I recommend buying the books by Robert J. Morgan. It is definitely worth the read!

But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand (Isaiah 64:8 KJV).

Jasper_Ware,_Nelson_Atkins_Museum_of_Art

Jasper Ware Wiki Commons

When I think of pottery, I usually think of the beautifully painted pieces purchased in a store. What I don’t think about is the process clay must go through to become those beautiful pieces.

That was until I saw the similarities between my life and clay.

For instance, have you ever felt as if your world was spinning out of control? I have. For years, I struggled with this problem. Until one day, I realized it wasn’t my world spinning out of control. It was me. I needed anchoring! I needed to quit succumbing to my circumstances and set my eyes on my Deliverer.

In pottery, this process is called centering.

Centering

Wiki Commons

In centering, the potter moistens the center of the wheel and throws the clay atop it. Then, he smacks the ball of wet earth a couple of times removing the air bubbles from beneath it.

Then he begins “coning” and “flattening” (friction). This process prevents the clay from spinning out of control. The idea is the same as being in the eye of the storm. Read more here...

As a child of God, I’m like a piece of clay. The wheel is my life, the instrument the Potter uses to better mold me. It isn’t the wheel I’m to conform to but the pressure of His hands holding me steady.

As with the piece of clay, the choice is mine. Do I yield to His hands and move upward, or be carried away with the centrifugal force of the wheel and move outward?

Thankfully, I’ve come to realize when I surrender to his hands, I fulfill my design and function. When I succumb to the wheel, I thrash about and eventually shatter from the pressures of my life.

Reflection

Have you ever thought about the similarities of your life and clay? Remember, as His child, you are always in His hands!

Promises: Deuteronomy 31:6; Psalms 46:1; Isaiah 26:3; Jeremiah 32:27

Lord, hear my cry. Help me to see the need of centering in You each day. To daily seek Your face, the Author and Finisher of our faith, for the answers I need. Place within me the desire to transform into Your likeness. Be the center of my life that I may know You and Your will for me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.