As I pondered the hymn, "Have Thine Own Way, Lord", I couldn't help but
find this song a striking portrayal of a submissive heart. Most of you
are probably familiar with it and sing this hymn often in your church
services during invitation time. If you're like me, you've sung it many
times with your lips, but few times from your heart… In all honesty, ladies,
we resist the Lord having His own way in our lives on a daily basis! Let's
review the words together and take inventory of our heart's condition
at the same time…
Have Thine own way, Lord!
Have Thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay:
Mould 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!
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 Thine,
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!
Have Thine own way, Lord!
Have Thine own way!
Hold o'er my being, absolute sway!
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see,
Christ only, always, living in me!
As I read through those heartfelt expressions, I thought about how the
Lord gives us a free will, never forcing Himself upon us, though He certainly
has the authority to! Adelaide Pollard was referring to the text of Jeremiah
18:3-4 when she penned the words to this hymn, thereby relating the devotion
of her heart to God. In these scripture verses, the Bible points to the
Lord as the Potter who has control over His children, the clay. Knowing
therefore God's power, it is ridiculous for us to resist His moldings…
Truly, that work in our lives that seems good to God to do ought to seem
good to us! Yet, our heavenly Father desires that you and I come to that
place in our hearts where we will echo His will and mean it…
Jeremiah 18:3-4 (KJV)
Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work
on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand
of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the
potter to make it.
In that first stanza of the hymn, did you notice the writer chose three
specific adjectives indicating the condition of a heart that can truly
say, "Have Thine own way, Lord"? They are "waiting", "yielded", and "still".
Unfortunately, many of God's children are far from this holy condition!
How then could we ever sing this hymn from our hearts when they are not
waiting upon God or when they are not yielded? How then could we ever
sing this hymn from our hearts when they are not still? I can't imagine
what the Lord thinks when His children carelessly sing such lovely words
with hearts that are contrary to the very meaning they hold?
Matthew 15:8 (KJV)
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with
their lips; but their heart is far from me.
In the second stanza of the hymn, we find the writer desires that the
Lord wash her heart whiter than snow, realizing that first one must humbly
bow in the Lord's presence for this to take place. Such is the position
our hearts are to take when we come before our God. How clean would you
say your heart is today, dear lady? Have you been faithfully entering
the presence of the Lord for His washing? With what attitude of heart
have you come before Him? Are you mad at His workings in your life or
yielded to them?? Ladies, we must be careful that we do not become mechanical
in our daily devotions, thereby leaving our hearts out of them completely
and bringing vanity to our Christianity! We must take our hearts with
us when we enter the presence of the Lord, not just our heads! And we
should make certain they are bowed before God in humility to be assured
that when we leave His presence they will be washed clean from our sins…
Then it is we would be able to sing this hymn with our whole heart!
Isaiah 1:18 (KJV)
Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be
as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool.
Jeremiah 24:7 (KJV)
And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they
shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto
me with their whole heart.
In the third stanza of the hymn, I noticed that the writer, like you and
I, became wounded and weary on her journey in this life. But her language
confirms that she took those situations in life that left her completely
drained to the Lord in prayer. Did you find the clue in her writing that
shows you why she took them to the Lord? It is because she knew that ALL
power belonged to God! Her choice of words were, "surely is Thine!" Yes,
this author knew it for certain, and she rested in knowing that power
belonged to the Lord by asking Him to personally touch her life and heal
her of all her infirmities. Ladies, do we know that as well as Adelaide
Pollard did?? She obviously wanted to encourage your heart and mine with
this wonderful knowledge of the Lord in writing these words. We can sense
her confidence in God... How dare you and I join Adelaide in song if we
do not really believe that God can supply the power we need to face everything
that comes our way!
1 Chronicles 29:12 (KJV)
Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in
thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great,
and to give strength unto all.
Luke 1:37 (KJV)
For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Lastly, the fourth stanza gives us a glimpse of the writer's desire to
be completely controlled by the Spirit of God. I love her selection of
words, "Hold o'er my being absolute sway." That means that Miss Pollard
wanted every movement, every choice, every thought, every word, every
deed, every single ounce of her being to be filled and controlled by God
alone! Nothing at all between her soul and the Savior... She no longer
wanted to lean toward her fleshly, sinful tendencies, but instead toward
being a testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ living within her. She herself
wanted to continually fade away into the background so that Christ would
come to the forefront. Adelaide seemed to want the King of Kings to have
the preeminence above all who came in contact with her, that they might
be impressed with Him only! Only a cold heart could sing this last stanza
while inwardly resisting the Holy Spirit's leading to go forward to the
altar at invitation time and yield a particular area of life to the Lord's
complete control! Do we really mean the words we are singing??
Phillipians 3:7-9 (KJV)
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea
doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,
and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him,
not having mine own righteousness....
It is no accident that many of our favorite hymns were born out of sorrow
and distress, the times when all seemed hopeless. Mostly the writers were
pouring out their inner feelings to lift their sad spirits to the Lord
to be refreshed of Him. Their words provide a picture of their heart's
position before God in the midst of various circumstances. If you were
to write a hymn today in light of what is going on in your life, giving
us a peek at your inner posture toward your circumstances, would you be
able to title it "Have Thine own way, Lord"? If so, then you are most
likely a person who can sing Adelaide's hymn with your whole heart. But
if not, you are guilty of honoring the Lord with your lips in song, while
your heart is far from Him! All I know is, God is leaving it up to us
to decide on our own life's title...
Have Thine Own Way, ________.
A. Self
B. Lord
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000 Pamela A. Iannello
Revised 2003
