YOU ARE MY WITNESSES

 

I was lifted heavenward today……..”O Israel, fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine….For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour…I, even I, am the Lord: and beside me there is no saviour.”  (Isaiah 43:1,3,11)

 

As I read Isaiah 43, I saw the tender heart of Jesus.  His expressions of love, tenderness and forgiveness He feels for the House of Israel overwhelmed me.  And then this: “….therefore YE ARE MY WITNESSES, saith the Lord, that I am God” (v12). The desire to be a witness of who He is exploded in my heart and made up for my feelings of inadequacy in my worship and reverence of Christ.

 

I offer here an inspiration from the life of one man, composer George Frideric Handel, who became such a witness. Recovering from a stroke and tired from a largely flagging career as a composer at age 52, he returned from a long and tiring walk one late August in 1741 and found that a poet and previous collaborator, Charles Jennens, had left him a manuscript littered with words of Isaiah foretelling the birth, ministry, crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. From this, Handel’s most famous work Messiah was composed in just three weeks. At the completion of the composition he simply said: “God has visited me….I am cured and have been set free”. He became a power witness of the Saviour to the physically and spiritually captive as he donated all profits from performances of Messiah to prisoners, orphans and the sick. 

 

“Each of us, like Handel, is engaged in a creative enterprise in this life. Both the physical fostering of mortal life and the righteous living of our days on earth are spiritual achievements. I pray that we may be sensitive to inspiration from on high, that we may be inspired in such a way that the fruits of our labours are inspiring to others…..” 

(Elder Spencer J. Condie , “Handel and the Gift of Messiah”, Ensign 2010)

 

You flowed like a river through my heart

Revealing the wonder of You;

And lifted my eyes higher to see the majestic view.

You ploughed the sacred ground of my heart

And tenderly sowed your seeds of love;

In gratitude, I scatter them in the hearts of others

Like golden stars scattered along the deepest night.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Worlds by Greg Olsen)