For example, Fanny Crosby lost her sight when she was only 6 weeks old. She lived into her nineties, composing thousands of beloved hymns. On her 92nd birthday she cheerfully said, “If in all the world you can find a happier person than I am, do bring him to me. I should like to shake his hand.”
What enabled Fanny Crosby to experience such joy in the face of what many would term a “tragedy”? At an early age she chose to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4). In fact, Fanny carried out a resolution she made when she was only 8 years old: “How many blessings I enjoy that other people don’t. To weep and sigh because I’m blind, I cannot and I won’t.”
Let’s remember that “the joy of the Lord is [our] strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Let’s also take comfort in the teachings of Jesus, who in John 15:11 said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”
When faced with the choice of self-pity or rejoicing in our adversities, let’s respond with rejoicing (2 Corinthians 7:4-7; Philippians 2:17; Colossians 1:24) .
"Be this the purpose of my soul,
My solemn, my determined choice:
To yield to God’s supreme control,
And in my every trial rejoice." —Anonymous
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
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