“It’s
all yours” is another way she might have said this the morning after an episode
that touched her so profoundly that she was unable to sleep. It might be analogous
to a patriotic zeal, upon seeing a nation’s flag (see England’s here), that
motivates soldiers or citizens to sacrifice themselves. Frances Ridley Havergal
was a 38-year old Englishwoman known for her steadfastness to God, but had any
other time in her life affected her so? “Take My Life and Let It Be” was
evidently not just pretty words for Frances, an often-ailing figure who must
have leaned on Him especially because of her physical challenges. Was her commitment
stronger because she suspected hers would be an abbreviated existence?
As she
lived in 1874, Frances Havergal had already suffered enough challenges for a
lifetime, and yet she convinced others with her uncomplaining spirit that there
was much that was praiseworthy, much that was available even in her delicate
frame for His use. While she apparently had a gifted voice, it’s reported that
she was often sick, and died with a serious infection at the age of just 42. Before
her death she was a model for others of a consecrated character, a condition that
especially her father, also a hymnist-writer and member of the Anglican clergy,
nurtured in her from childhood. By her 30s, Frances had a well-known reputation
for daily living as a spiritually-led individual, as her poetry indicated. ‘Take
My Life…’ was reportedly written at the conclusion of a five-day visit to a
house where she influenced 10 other people toward a new or stronger Christ-commitment.
Had she used her musical voice as part of this witness to urge their lives
upward, since it too was part of her God-given talent? If she did, Frances did
not dwell on it, but rather credited Him with the inspiration to persuade these
acquaintances of His concern for them. This included two girls with whom she
was stirred from bed to converse. Afterwards, she was so moved by the
experience that she lay awake that night with her own overflowing fervor. As
light dawned, she had composed the six-verse poem to cap this experience. She
must have thought, as she excitedly pondered the thrill of the events in the dark,
that she would surrender anything to His use if she could just retain that
moment of Divine success. It oozes from every verse she penned, ‘take this and
take that of me’, use it all, God! Hers may have been a weak constitution, but
if she truly felt as she wrote that night, maybe her physical infirmity was
what she gladly accepted in exchange for making His purposes complete in herself.
What
became of the 10 people to whom Frances talked during that week in 1874? Perhaps
they sang the words Frances had crafted that one evening, remembering the
things she’d said to push them closer to their Creator. Her lines cannot be voiced
with casual attention. There’s too many objects of ‘take’ in the words,
culminating in ‘all’. Those two words sum up Frances – she invited someone to take it all. That’s probably because she’d discovered it was worth it. He’s
worth it.
See more
information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of
Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J.
Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; Amazing
Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck,
Kregel Publications, 1990; 101 Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck,
Kregel Publications, 1982; and Then Sings My Soul – 150 of the World’s
Greatest Hymn Stories, Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003.
Also see this link, showing all six original verses, shown as
three verses, and the composer’s story about the song: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/t/a/k/takemyli.htm
More in-depth biography of composer here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Ridley_Havergal
Site describing an Areley House in the United Kingdom: http://www.areleyhouse.co.uk/
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