Swing Low Sweet Chariot
“…The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41, ESV
One morning I woke up one morning and I notice I did not have a song in my spirit, so I said, “Holy Spirit, I don’t have a song.” Immediately the song “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” came to my mind. I started to hum the words, as many as I could remember, and then I stopped. I said, “God, I am not ready for you to come and get me from earth. Why did you give me that song?”
As I was thinking about the words, I did some research on the song. I found that it was composed by Wallace Willis, a Choctaw freedman in the old Indian Territory in what is now Choctaw County, near the County seat of Hugo, Oklahoma sometime after 1865. He may have been inspired by the sight of the Red River, by which he was toiling, which reminded him of the Jordan River and of the Prophet Elijah being taken to heaven by a chariot (2 Kings 2:11). Some sources claim that this song and "Steal Away" (also sung by Willis) had lyrics that referred to the Underground Railroad, the freedom movement that helped black people escape from Southern slavery to the North and Canada (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_Low,_Sweet_Chariot).
I found myself praying to God, seeking clarity about the song He had put in my spirit. As I was praying, He showed me that we can always say we want His will to be done in our life, but until our faith is tested, we will never know if what we say is the truth of our heart. I found out that my true heart was not ready for death, even if that was God’s will. I began to pray for a heart after His and I thanked God for showing me where I was truly in my spirit. I told Him that I wanted my heart to be ready for whatever He brought before me, and I asked Him to help me with my weak flesh. Because, like scripture says, truly the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. (Matthew 26:41).
God reminded me that we were not meant to get to this place of surrenderance on our own. Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever…” (John 14:16).
Father, thank you for knowing our heart. I love that scripture teaches us that there is not one thought that you are not aware of. I ask that you continue to revel to us our soul so we can lay it before the alter and transformation can take place as we surrender all to you. This I pray in Jesus’s name. Amen!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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