Like a stranger in the night
OPINION —
I have an idea that one day God grew weary of the scornful attitude some of his sophisticated children had toward his children who were trapped in the evil web of alcoholism.
So He decided to use one of his alcoholics to reveal the gospel that his sober children were too busy to share with others.
The one God chose was only 29 when he died, his heart weakened by alcohol and prescription drug abuse. He died in the back seat of a car near Oak Hill, West Virginia, on his way to a concert in Canton, Ohio. God, however, had shown his love for addicts by inspiring this country music legend to compose one the popular song, “I Saw the Light.” Read again the lyrics and notice how Hank Williams weaved the good news of Jesus into this country gospel song:
I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin
I wouldn’t let my dear Savior in
Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night
Praise the Lord, I saw the light
I saw the light, I saw the light
No more darkness, no more night
Now I’m do happy no sorrow in sight
Praise the Lord, I saw the light
Just like a blind man, I wandered along
Worries and fears I claimed for my own
Then like the blind man that God gave back his sight
Praise the Lord, I saw the light
I was a fool to wander and stray
For straight is the gate and narrow the way
Now I have traded the wrong for the right
Praise the Lord, I saw the light
Those final seven words have been uttered by many whose sight was restored by Jesus.
The Pharisee Saul was one of the first. Blind and helpless, his sight was restored when Ananias said to him, “My brother, Jesus sent me to pray for you so that you may see again.”
When Saul, who became the Apostle Paul, described that moment later, I imagine he said, “Praise the Lord, I saw the light!”
Centuries later that slave ship captain, John Newton, would say pretty much the same thing when he wrote in his song, “Amazing Grace,” “I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see.” Cured of his blindness, Newton exchanged the slave trade business for Kingdom business. Once he “saw the light,” he became a hymnwriter and a beloved pastor. His congregation at Olney, England, added a gallery to the church to seat the people who flocked to hear Newton preach.
A hundred years ago Helen Lemmel wrote a touching song reminding “weary, troubled souls in darkness” to “turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face; and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” E. Stanley Jones offered a delightful suggestion, that we change “strangely dim” into “strangely new.” Good idea/ All things do become new when Jesus takes over.
A modern songwriter, Bob Cull, composed a stirring chorus that expresses the desire for the Lord to heal our blindness so that we may see Jesus:
Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus
To reach out and touch him, and say that we love him.
Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen.
Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus.
Whether Jesus comes like “a stranger in the night” or like the Savior in whose wonderful face we see the glory of God, we shall always be blind until He opens our eyes! When He does,we shall feel compelled to “go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell.”
