Are you ever frustrated that you can’t do more for Jesus? That you don’t have anything special to offer?
Charlotte Elliott, the author of the hymn, “Just As I Am,” certainly felt that way. She had been a brilliant and vivacious woman until an illness left her an invalid. Her situation left her quite depressed. She felt that she no longer had anything to offer — nothing to give.
But a pastor, Dr. Caesar Malan, came to visit her. Noting her despair, he encouraged her to give Christ her life — to come to Christ just as she was. That comment started a turnaround for her. While she remained an invalid, she began to search for ways to make her life meaningful.
And Dr. Malan’s words stayed with her — “Come to Christ just as you are.” Several years later, she wrote this hymn, which has become a favorite around the world. While she wrote more than a hundred hymns, this one in particular has affected more lives than she ever could have imagined.
So if you ever wonder what you can do to make your life meaningful, just put it in Christ’s hands and go where he leads. Christ has a way of using ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
–– Copyright 2006, Richard Niell Donovan
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
