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When your will is God's will, you will have your will. When your will is God's will, you will have your will. Charles Spurgeon, this is the Bright Forever. Hello and welcome to the Bright Forever, where we rediscover the power and richness found in some of the greatest hymns of the faith. My name is Andy Peavyhouse and I am your host on this, our adventure through hymnody. Welcome back, everybody.

Speaker 1 0:59

It is so good to be back with you again. It has been crazy. So just to catch you up on some of the events that have happened since our last episode, my job at the school has completely changed Not totally, but in large ways. I'm becoming the guidance counselor at our school, and so I began that journey in January, and it has been crazy. It's a crazy learning curve. I'm still teaching all of my Bible classes, I'm still helping with IT, but I've also added guidance counselor onto my list of jobs, and so this spring, with getting students to do their SATs and their ACTs and apply for college, and looking at their GPA and making sure they graduate, I have just been absolutely swamped and haven't been able to get here to record, and so it's been a crazy spring and, man, I've missed it. I've missed being with you, and so I'm glad to be back. I'm glad that we're finally back into the swing of things here at the Bright Forever With all of that craziness, with everything that's been happening. The one thing I've wanted is I'm like I've got so many ideas for the podcast and so I've wanted to get back, and I'm so glad that I'm back here. I will say I have had a lot of comments on our last episode, turn your Eyes Upon Jesus. It's one of the most listened to of this season and it's becoming one of the most listened to podcasts of all for a lot of reasons, but some of the reasons I've been told are the Jesus moment that my father talked about at the beginning, theology from behind the words, and it seems to have spoken really deeply to many of you, and so that's awesome to hear. I love hearing how God is using the songs that we talk about and the hymns that we dig into to really change your life and to make you think and to draw you closer to Him, and I love doing this, and so I'm so glad to be back.

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This week we dive into a hymn that I remember singing every time our church celebrated the Lord's Supper, and this was going to be part of what I was going to do for Easter and it just with time, I couldn't do it. What I was going to do for Easter and it just with time, I couldn't do it. But every Monday, thursday, we would have the Lord's Supper prior to Good Friday service and then into the Sunday service, and every time we would partake of the Lord's Supper. Then we would sing this hymn that, as a kid, I thought it was the most boring, simple, sad sounding song I've ever heard. As a kid I hated singing this song. As I grew up and began to see what this hymn actually is saying and calling upon God to do became a very powerful, life-changing prayer and declaration in my own life and in my own faith. The hymn is have Thine Own Way, lord. This hymn is different. It's not just about what God has done, it's about what we want him to do in us. It's a yielded heart set to melody. So let's dive into the story, but before we do, don't forget to click like subscribe to the Bright Forever so that you never miss an episode.

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The year was 1902, and a woman named Adelaide A Pollard was facing discouragement. She had long felt called to go to Africa as a missionary. She had prepared, prayed and pursued this opportunity, but the funds just didn't come together. Everything fell apart. She attended a prayer meeting one evening, probably weary, disappointed. There, an elderly woman stood up and prayed. Something simple but profound. She said it really doesn't matter what you do with us, lord, just have your own way with our lives. You do with us, lord, just have your own way with our lives. That one sentence lit something inside Adelaide. Later that night, as she meditated on Jeremiah, chapter 18, where the prophet visits the potter's house and sees the clay being shaped and reshaped and molded, she picked up a pen and wrote four quiet, powerful verses that would become this amazingly beloved hymn of surrender, this amazingly beloved hymn of surrender. Have thine own way, lord. Have thine own way. Thou art the potter, I am the clay. Let's sit with that image for just a moment.

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Jeremiah 18, one through six, says the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words. So I went down to the potter's house and there he was working at his wheel and the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hands and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the Lord came to me. Then the word of the Lord came to me oh, house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done, declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, oh house of Israel, look at the song again. Thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will. While I am waiting, yielded. And still we are the clay, not the potter. We are not the designer, we are not the architect of our own lives.

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The quote from Spurgeon at the start says it all when your will is God's will, you will have your will. It reminds me of a sermon I heard once about the verse Psalm 37, 4. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. When our delight is in the Lord, when we are seeking him and what he wants for us, his desires for our life become our desires as sanctification begins its work. As sanctification begins its work and as we become more and more and more like Christ and let go of ourselves, what we want becomes what God wants for us. His will becomes our will, his desires become our desires, his will becomes our will, his desires become our desires and we give away more and more and more of ourselves. He must increase and I must decrease. I love this Tim Keller quote that says God will either give us what we ask or give us what we would have asked if we knew everything he knows.

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I love that For many of us, especially in a world that tells us we need to take control of our own lives. You know, you only live once, yolo. Control your own life, control your own future. This hymn can feel like you're swimming upstream, but it's the gospel. It's the gospel invitation to trust the hands of the potter. To trust the hands of the potter, to trust the hands of the one shaping us. Even when we don't understand what he's making, as the clay, we must trust that the potter knows what he's making.

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I'm so sad sometimes when I hear people go oh, god screwed up. And I'll tell you this was my testimony for a large part of my life, because I had a speech impediment. I thought, oh well, god messed up. God somehow screwed up in creation when he made me because I was supposed to be fearfully and wonderfully made. God somehow screwed up in creation when he made me Because I was supposed to be fearfully and wonderfully made, but I have a speech impediment and so maybe I'm not, and it took a really long time to realize. No, I'm just clay being molded. God didn't make something in me by accident. I was made exactly the way I was supposed to be made. Does that mean I get to do whatever I want to do? No, Does that mean I get to be whatever I decide I want to be? No, but I'm made for a purpose and I have to trust that the father knows what that purpose is, that the potter knows what he's doing with this clay.

Speaker 1 12:14

The next verse calls for some really deep honesty in our lives. Have thine own way, lord. Have thine own way. Search me and try me, master today. Open mine eyes, my sin, show me now as in thy presence. Humbly I bow, humbly I bow. It's echoes of Psalm 139, verses 23 and 24. Search me, o God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. It's a raw vulnerability. It's the kind of prayer we pray when we run out of our own wisdom and our own strength.

Speaker 1 13:16

Adelaide Pollard didn't write this from a place of spiritual victory. She wrote it in the valley when her dream had crumbled. But instead of bitterness, she chose surrender and humility. This is what makes this hymn so powerful. It's not just theologically true, it's testimonially true. You want to hear the amazing thing? This is beautiful. Even though Adelaide Pollard didn't make it to Africa in that moment, her hymn did. It's been sung around the world, translated into countless languages and used to bring comfort, correction and calling to generations of believers. Sometimes, the dream we think God has for us turns out to be the path to the thing he really meant for us to do, something far beyond what we ever thought or what we ever planned.

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As the Lutheran column noted, this hymn has become a liturgy of personal discipleship, a pattern for praying when we don't know the way forward. Have thine own way, lord. Have thine own way, wounded and weary, help me. I pray. Power, all power, surely, is thine. Touch me and heal me. Savior divine, this is a prayer from the bottom, uttered not when you're feeling strong and ready, but when you're wounded and you're weary. I don't know about y'all, but I feel wounded and weary a lot more than I feel strong and capable.

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This verse is the kind of prayer that we whisper through the tears. Sometimes it's the cry of someone who's burned out from trying to do everything in their own strength. Can anybody understand that? And what's beautiful is that this hymn doesn't try to push through. It doesn't try and just say oh, you know what, I'm exhausted, but I'm going to keep pushing through. No, it names it. It says I'm wounded and weary. It brings all of that exhaustion, all of that weariness, honestly and lays it before God and then says help me. It's here, it's in the weariness that we meet Jesus. The same Jesus who, in Matthew 11, 28, says come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest this is where Jesus enters, touch me and heal me, savior divine.

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It's at our lowest where we see our true salvation. It's at our lowest where we see our true salvation. It's like the prodigal son when he was at his absolute lowest. He's like, hey, at least I can go back to my dad's house, maybe I can be a servant, maybe I can be one of his slaves. It's better than eating pig slop. And so he goes there, not expecting anything, at his very lowest, just hoping, hoping to be a slave. And God comes running, the father comes running, my son, who is lost, has been found.

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And then this hymn immediately reminds us that power us, that power doesn't come from us, it says it plainly power, all power, surely, is thine. That's both a confession and a comfort. We don't have to conjure up energy to change ourselves or to save ourselves or make ourselves stronger. We ask the one who can heal and restore, to touch us, to do what we can't. It reminds us that surrender isn't just about obedience. Sometimes surrender is about collapsing into God's grace and saying I can't do this on my own, can't do this on my own. And the good news for us, for the prodigal, is that God doesn't leave us there he meets us, right where we are. Have thine own way, lord. Have thine own way, hold o'er my being absolute sway. This is about total surrender, not reluctant obedience, but joyful handing over of my life to God's will and purpose. Whatever that may be filled with thy spirit, till all shall see. What do I want them to see? Look at how awesome I am, see how I turn things around. Look at me. You thought I was down, but look at me now. I'm better. Woo-hoo, I'm awesome. No, no, what did she say? What does she say Filled with thy spirit, till all shall see Christ only always living in me. That line, that little line, it's the most poetic way I've heard of saying I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

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Galatians 2.20. Filled with thy spirit, till all shall see Christ only always living in me. So here's the heart of it. This hymn invites us into sanctification, into trust, into becoming more like Jesus. Whether you're walking through disappointment, wrestling with a calling or just trying to make space for God in a noisy world, this hymn is for you. Maybe you need to pray it right now, just as a whisper. Have thine own way, lord, not because you're weak, but because he is strong. Not because you've given up, but because you're giving it over, but because you're giving it over. That's the journey of every believer From self-will to surrender, from striving to shaping. From me to Christ in me. There is something incredibly moving about the rest of Adelaide Pollard's story.

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Though her dream of becoming a long-term missionary in Africa was delayed and disrupted, adelaide didn't stop following Jesus. She didn't quit when doors closed. Instead, she stayed faithful. She taught at the missionary training school in Nyack, new York New York, pouring into the next generation of gospel workers, and eventually she did make it to Africa for a brief time, until World War I forced her to flee to Scotland. After that, she returned to the US and continued to preach across New England.

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This is what surrender often looks like, not a one-time moment at the altar. I think we confuse it a lot Because I think we think we surrender, we lay down our life and that's it. That's the point. Okay, I've surrendered, I'm done, I'm done. It's not just a one-time moment at the altar. Surrender is a lifetime of saying have thine own way, lord. Again and again, and again and again, when my plans shift. Have thine own way, lord, when my dreams fall apart. Have thine own way, lord, when we're asked to serve in ways that we didn't expect. Have thine own way, lord.

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Adelaide never sought recognition for her work. In fact, most of her 100 hymns and gospel songs were simply signed AAP. She didn't want the spotlight, she just wanted to glorify her Savior. And maybe that's the most beautiful part. Have Thine Own Way, lord, set to music by George Stebbins in 1907, became her legacy, not because it topped charts or filled stadiums, but because it echoed a heart that stayed surrendered even when life didn't go according to plan, and that's a legacy that still shapes lives today.

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So the question becomes what would it look like for us to live like that, not chasing recognition, not needing control, just quietly, faithfully, daily, saying Jesus, I'm yours, have your way. Before we close today, let me read the entire hymn as a prayer over each of you. As I do, I want you to ask yourself what part of my life is God asking to shape right now? Where are you resisting him, and what would it look like for him to have his own way in your life? Have thine own way, lord. Have thine own way.

Speaker 1 26:31

Thou art the potter, I am the clay. I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will. While I am waiting, yielded and still, have thine own way, lord. Have thine own way, search me and try me, master, today. Open mine eyes, my sin, show me now, as in thy presence, humbly I bow, have thine own way, lord. Have thine own way, wounded and weary, help me. I pray. Power, all power, surely, is thine. Touch me and heal me. Savior divine, have thine own way, lord. Have thine own way, lord. Have thine own way. Hold o'er my being absolute sway.

Speaker 3 28:21

Fill with thy spirit till all. Shall see Christ only always living in me. Have thine own way, lord. Have thine own way. Thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will. While I am waiting, yielded and still. Have thine own way, lord. Have thine own way. Search me and try me, Master today. Master today, whiter than snow, lord, wash me just now, as in Thy presence, humbly I bow. Have Thine own way, lord. Have Thine own way. Wounded and weary, help me. I pray. Power, all power, surely is Thou. Touch me and heal me. Savior divine, have thine own way, lord. Have thine own way. Hold all my being, hold all my being, absolute sway. Fill with Thy Spirit Till all. Shall see Christ only always living in me.

Speaker 1 32:29

That was have Thine Own Way, lord, from Songs and Everlasting Joy. Songs and Everlasting Joy is a YouTube channel based in Australia. They have been so kind as to let our podcast use their music to, as they say, spotlight and spread the knowledge of old hymns. Their YouTube description states this is a place where I share contemplative songs about God and his promises for us. I cannot wait to have eternal songs and everlasting joy. One day, with the scripture from Isaiah 35.10, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. A huge thanks to songs and everlasting joy YouTube channel for letting us highlight their music on the podcast. Thank you, as always, for joining me on this episode of the bright forever.

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You can find links to the articles that we've referenced, the full lyrics to the songs, instrumentals, chord charts, all sorts of other resources for the things that we talk about on this podcast in the show notes for each episode. And if this episode blessed you share it. Please Send it to someone who's in a season of surrender and until next time, trust the potter and let him have his way. Be sure to subscribe and share it with others. You can follow this podcast either through Apple, spotify, amazon, many other podcast platforms, or you can take our RSS feed and plug it into wherever you listen to podcasts. If you want to dig deeper into the hymns we have done before, please take a minute and visit our website at thebrightforevercom. And, as always, we want to hear from you. You can email us at podcast at thebrightforevercom. You can also click the contact us tab at the top of our website and send us a message through our contact form. You can click the radio microphone in the bottom right and record a message up to two minutes and let us know what you think that way as well. And, uh, now you can even text us. Uh, in the description and show notes of every episode, there is a link at the beginning that says send us a text. You can text us through there and it comes directly to us on our website. And, last but not least, you can always show us what you think by leaving a review on our website.

Speaker 1 35:14

Apple Podcasts, spotify. Just give us a five-star rating, as many five-star ratings as you possibly can. Uh, just get it out there. Say this is the greatest podcast in the entire world. Um, if you have a uh, a one-star review for this, um, you can go ahead and keep that to yourself. I don't mind, um, but thank you for all those people who have given me five star ratings. Thank you so much. Thank you again for listening and supporting us every single week.

Speaker 1 35:45

There will be new episodes coming throughout the summer to kind of catch us back up, because I do have a little bit of time now that I can record, so there will be more episodes coming. This was just one that I had already had planned, and I have about three more that are all planned out and ready for recording, and so we're going to get those done and get those up quickly, thank you. Thank you for not giving up on us I know it's been a while since our last episode and thank you so much for supporting us. Thank you for listening, thank you for just being a part of what we're doing here at the Bright Forever Podcast. With that, let me close us in prayer and we'll close it out for the day.

Speaker 1 36:30

Lord, thank you so much for who you are, god, that we can pray powerful prayers like have thine own way, lord. Take control, god. There are some people who are listening to this right now, who are literally at the end of themselves and they don't know what to do. They don't know who to turn to, know what to do. They don't know who to turn to and, god, they're even not sure if they can let go. But, god, help this song be their prayer. Help this song be that motivation to let go go and to see you do amazing things in their lives through just laying themselves down. Continue to work in us, continue to strengthen us, continue to chip away those things as you sanctify us and draw us closer and make us more like you. God, we love you, we praise you. We pray for an amazing week in Jesus name, amen. God bless you all. Have a great week. We will be back here next week. We'll see you. Then we're out. Thank you.