The grand old hymn God Moves in a Mysterious Way was written by William Cowper (pronounced Cooper), the English poet, friend of John Newton, who struggled all his life with depression. According to Ernest Emurian in Living Stories of Famous Hymns, William Cowper wrote this hymn following a period of almost suicidal depression. Calling for a carriage, he ordered the driver to take him to the Ouse River, three miles away, where he planned to kill himself. The driver lost his way in the dense fog, jogging up one road and down another as Cowper fell into a deep sleep. Several hours passed. Finally he returned him to his home. Cowper paid his fare, went inside, and pondered how he had been spared from harming himself by the merciful providence of God. That same evening in 1774, his forty-third year, reflecting on his narrow escape, he wrote this autobiographical hymn:
God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.
Cowper had come to understand that the dark storm he endured was the means by which God had chosen to reveal Himself. God rides upon the storm and uses it to perform wonders. Life is literally filled with God-appointed storms. These squalls surge across everyone’s horizon. When storms come we need to do more than just survive them. We need to ride upon them with God. Jesus intended to teach His disciples that very lesson in Matthew 14:22-33. The passage contains the familiar story of the disciples in a God appointed storm and Jesus walking on the water. The experience of the disciples can be a source of encouragement to us. When we encounter a storm we can rest on several assurances.
