Thank you to Justin Taylor for posting a video on Charlotte Elliot, the author of the hymn, Just as I Am.
I had no idea she lived for decades with infirmities that kept her bed-ridden in her home. It adds several layers of seriousness to the words she wrote, calling out to God for help.
May we all say to the Father with her, ‘thy will be done!’
“My God, My Father, While I Stray” by Charlotte Elliot:
1. My God, my Father, while I stray Far from my home on life’s rough way Oh, teach me from my heart to say, “Thy will be done.” 2. Though dark my path and sad my lot, Let me be still and murmur not Or breathe the prayer divinely taught, “Thy will be done.” 3. What though in lonely grief I sigh For friends beloved, no longer nigh, Submissive still would I reply– “Thy will be done.” 4. Though Thou hast called me to resign What most I prized, it ne’er was mine; I have but yielded what was Thine– “Thy will be done.” 5. Should grief or sickness waste away My life in premature decay, My Father, still I strive to say, “Thy will be done.” 6. Let but my fainting heart be blest With Thy sweet Spirit for its Guest; My God, to Thee I leave the rest– “Thy will be done.” 7. Renew my will from day to day; Blend it with Thine and take away All that now makes it hard to say, “Thy will be done.” 8. Then, when on earth I breathe no more, The prayer, oft mixed with tears before, I’ll sing upon a happier shore, “Thy will be done.”
The Works of God 
John, I first heard your story through your interview video with John Piper a few months ago. I could relate to how you described your eyes being opened to your own depravity and a desperate need for Jesus during those first few years with your son’s disability. My eyes were opened to these truths during my own suffering with an ongoing chronic environmental illness which keeps me homebound. I have learned so much about the sovereignty of God especially these last five years. Here in the solitude I have experienced the grace and forgiveness through Christ in ways that are humbling and joyful. However, at times the loneliness and discouragement in the isolation can be a battle. Today, I went to the Lord in prayer as I was struggling. I sensed HIm draw me to your blog. And now I know what He wanted me to see. This hymn. Of course, the story behind it is essential for the encouragement the Lord brought to me. To see the real and humble expression of another who was homebound, yet turned her eyes upward to the Lord, is like fresh wood place on the fire of hope in my heart. Thank You, Lord for your loving act of kindness to me and thank You, Lord for John Knight’s posting and the heart You have transformed in him with a passion for those with disabilities.
Diana