"The God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified" - Daniel 5:23b
"You...have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this" - Daniel 5:22
Some people are spoken to by God over a protracted period in a still small voice in a very mundane and simplistic way, but there are others - especially deeply sinful people - and God needs to send them a sharp shock to shake them out of their apathy and their spiritual slumber. God is a God who breaks through our crises, and makes the most godless of men and women know that He exists. This was the experience of John Newton, author of the famous hymn 'Amazing Grace' - who also has an amazing life story, particularly in relation to his close encounter of a Divine kind.
John had a godly mother, but she died when he was only 7 years of age. He was turned over to relatives, and soon forgot the Scriptures that his mother had taught him at her knee. He began to dream about following in the footsteps of his father, who was a sea captain. At the age of 11 he realised his dream and joined his father's ship, but from that moment on it was far from plain sailing. He soon learned the ways of sin common in the lives many seafaring men. His biography tells us that he began to fight with his own father, he clashed with his employers, he was flogged for desertion, and finally he ended up in jail. He even earned the reputation of being able to curse for two hours straight without repeating a word.
John was so depraved that punishment didn't even change him - after he was released from prison he continued an immoral life, living in unrestrained debauchery. Eventually his downward path led him to desert the Navy and he fled to Africa so that, in his own words: 'I might sin my fill'. He eventually ended up in the most despicable of all trades in those days: the slave trade. His skills as a navigator earned him the position of 'first mate' on a slave ship. One day, while the captain was ashore, Newton broke into the ship's supply of rum and soon the entire crew were drunk. When the captain returned, he was so incensed that he hit Newton, knocking him overboard! John would have drowned, were it not for a sailor who threw a hooked spear into the water. The hook went through John's thigh, and his fellow sailor lifted him out like a fish. We learn in his biography that the wound on his left leg was so big, you could have put your fist inside it!
Eventually John's slave ship hit a storm off the north-west coast of Ireland. The storm thundered against the vessel to such an extent that the whole crew feared for their lives. The water began to fill the decks, and the crew ran to the pails and pumps, desperately trying to get the water out of the ship - but Newton and the crew knew that they could do nothing against the force of such a storm. Fearing for his life, John cried out: 'If this will not do, then the Lord have mercy on us!'. All of a sudden, as he uttered these words, he was arrested in his heart! He realised the utter depravity of the life he had lived, and thought to himself: 'What mercy can there be for me? A man who is a wretch of a sinner, who has lived such a sinful life. I find myself in this storm, in a crisis, my life is at risk - but what mercy could there be from God for the likes of me?'. Miraculously the storm abated, and John Newton was gloriously converted by God's grace. Later he penned 'Amazing Grace', and this verse is particularly poignant in light of his life story:
'Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come'.
He died on the 21st December 1807 in London, having served the Lord for 60 years after his conversion. On his tombstone in the churchyard at Olney, where he served as a minister, his epitaph reads: 'John Newton, Clerk, once an infidel, a libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long laboured to destroy'.
Newton had a close encounter of the Divine kind, a life-changing encounter - and what God did for John Newton, He can do for you! Is God speaking to you through a crisis in your life? Will you continue to ignore 'The God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways', or will you humble your heart and heed His voice?
Find out more about 'A Close Encounter Of The Divine Kind' we read of in the book of Daniel, and read John Newton's biography, available from Amazon (US or UK) and ICM Books...
