JOHN NEWTON "I Asked the LORD That I Might Grow"

Child of God, the LORD Jesus Christ will complete the work that He has begun in your soul, you can be sure of that! He will cause you to be separated from all the things of this earth and of this world that are vain, empty and fleeting. He will cause every elect soul to find comfort and rest in their Heavenly Father alone.

Oh yes, it's a most painful journey at times, but there are manifold comforts along the way. Don't be discouraged, dear one, as the LORD withholds from you the things that delight, enslave and destroy those who are strangers to His grace. He will not let you be satisfied with this life nor with the treasures of this world. He is Faithful to continually work in all things to bring you closer and closer to Himself, to Heaven and to the Eternal Kingdom of God. Trust Him! Trust your Saviour to bring you safely home to Mount Zion at last.

Each believer is a tender plant, nurtured and cared for by God alone. Though the whole world is a frightful wilderness where drought prevails, where wild beasts tear and devour, where the tender seedling of faith in Christ is prone to blight and disease, nonetheless, the LORD is faithful to protect and nurture each of His rare and exotic fruit-bearing plants in the garden of God. Each will be watered, each will grow and each will bring forth an abundant harvest of glorious fruit in the LORD's appointed hour. Each is a highly-prized trophy of grace to the Gardener of our souls. Each one is given grace to grow in accordance with His will, in His Own time and for His Own purpose.
Truly, God's grace will bring each soul through many trials, but as each growing season comes to a close, an abundant harvest is promised in the life of every tree planted by rivers of Living Water. The sowing, the watering and finally the great harvest - this is the work of God.

"I ASKED THE LORD THAT I MIGHT GROW" is Hymn No. 36 in Book III of John Newton's famous Olney Hymnal of 1779.