Eric Liddell, memorialized in the film Chariots of Fire, won
a gold medal in the 1924 Paris Olympics before going to China as a missionary.
Some years later, with the outbreak of World War II, Liddell sent his family to
safety in Canada, but he remained in China. Soon Liddell and other foreign
missionaries were interned in a Japanese detainment camp. After months of
captivity, he developed what doctors feared was a brain tumor.
Every Sunday afternoon a band would play near the hospital, so one day
Liddell requested they play the hymn “Be Still, My Soul.” As he listened, I
wonder if Eric pondered these words from the song: Be still, my soul:
the hour is hastening on / When we shall be forever with the Lord. / When
disappointment, grief, and fear are gone, / Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys
restored. / Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past / All safe and
blessed we shall meet at last.
That beautiful hymn, so comforting to Eric as he faced an illness that led to his death 3 days later, expresses a great reality of Scripture. In Psalm 46:10, David wrote, “Be still, and know that I am God.” In our darkest moments, we can rest, for our Lord conquered death on our behalf. Be still, and allow Him to calm your greatest fears.
God’s whisper of comfort quiets the noise of our trials. (RBC)
