Though William Cowper suffered bouts of depression, he still discovered that God is faithful. He wrote: “ God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. … His purpose will ripen fast, unfolding every hour; The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flow’r.” He is reminding us that no matter how hard we try, we can never fully understand God’s ways. Sometimes we pray for healing and God answers. Other times we pray for healing and God does not heal. We find in Acts chapter 9 that God through the Apostle Peter healed the man, Aeneas, and the result was so profound that a whole town turned to Christ. Yet the Apostle Paul prayed three times for God to remove the “thorn” in his flesh and God did not do so, assuring Paul that God’s grace was sufficient. Despite William Cowper’s frequent bouts of depression, he wrote 68 hymns. God’s ways are mysterious. What is not a mystery, however, is the faithfulness of God’s love and wisdom and power and presence in the life of His children. Then, when this life is over, we shall know unending joy beyond description.
