A Blank Check in the Lord’s Hand - 1791
Isabella Graham
Introduction
Isabella Graham was a Scottish Christian who married and traveled with her husband to Antigua, where he died in service to his country. Left a widow with several children, she trusted her cause to the Lord and sought his guidance. She believed the Lord promised her the salvation of all her children. Back home in Scotland she supported herself through various expedients, including the operation of a girls’ school. Impoverished herself, she still helped the poor and established a “penny society” to which each family paid a penny a week as insurance in case illness disabled their bread-earner. Eventually she settled in New York where she was active in philanthropic work among prisoners and the poor. Her one surviving son was a restless and godless boy who went to sea. He visited her once, then returned to sea, prompting the following entry in her journal on this day, 20 May, 1791. Shortly after she wrote this, her son disappeared and was never heard from again.
Quote
“This day my only son left me in bitter wringings of heart: he is again launched on the ocean, God’s ocean. The Lord saved him from shipwreck, brought him to my home, and allowed me once more to indulge the yearning of my heart over him….
“I ask nothing in all this world for him: I repeat my petition—save his soul alive; give him salvation from sin. It is not the danger of the seas that distresses me; it is not the hardships he must undergo; it is not the dread of never seeing him more in this world: it is because I cannot discern the fulfillment of the promise in him. I discern not the new birth nor its fruits, but every symptom of captivity to Satan, the world, and self-will. This, O this is what distresses me: and in connection with this, his being shut out from ordinances, at a distance from Christians; and shut up with those who forget God, profane his name, and break his Sabbaths.
“O Lord, many wonders hast thou shown me; thy ways of dealing with me and mine have not been common; add this wonder to the rest: call, convert, regenerate, and establish a sailor in the faith….Confirm to me thy gracious word…. ‘I wait for thy salvation.’ Amen.”
Graham, Isabella. The Power of Faith. American Tract Society, 1843.