HE SAYS: “This Too Shall Pass”

I used to sing a song which was encouraging and uplifting to me, but since I have been born again, I do not enjoy the song anymore, and I cannot even sing the lyrics.

Initially, I just felt a sense of dislike for the song, even though I could not identify the reason for my change in heart.

This weekend, the song was sung at the funeral of a long-time family friend, and I could not sing along with the congregation.  I decided to do some analysis of the song to understand better why my spirit rebelled against it.

The first lyric which is problematic is the second stanza:

“Tis not by sight we walk this way of God; But leaning on His love, We follow, with a faith that questions not, on t’ward the things above.”

Jesus never asks us to follow blindly.  He is the light of the world, and he healed many blind people during his ministry.  He healed one man who had been born blind, and everyone saw the miracle.  The Pharisees were so angered by His display of power, they expelled the man from the synagogue.   When Jesus heard what had happened, He revealed His true identity to the man, and the man worshipped Him. 

“Jesus said, For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”   John 9:39 (NIV1984)

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.“   John 1:1-5 (NIV1984)

The assertion of the song that Christians blindly follow their “god” while questioning nothing is NOT biblical, but the real heart of the song is revealed in the last stanza:

“When o’er our head the sky may clouded be, Just hear the Father say, “This, too, shall pass- it bears the promise of a brighter clearer day.””

I was intrigued by the words spoken by the “father”, so I looked for the phrase(s) in the bible.  I did not find them!  I next looked on Google, and the phrase “This too shall pass” came up quickly.  It is from a proverb.  The proverb however is from the Sufi prophets of Persia.  They are a sect of Islam, and their faith is known as Sufism.

I now understand this song is not Christian, because Jesus made us a very different promise.

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me."  Matthew 24:9 (NIV1984)