Stories Behind Popular Hymns: Gaither HomecomingSample

God Will Take Care of You

Sometimes it takes a child to remind us what it means to truly have faith in our Father. That’s what Civilla Martin and her husband, Rev. Walter Martin, discovered one Sunday. Rev. Martin was a renowned evangelist in the early 1900s, and he and his wife had also composed a number of hymns and gospel songs. He was in the process of compiling a songbook for the president of a New York Bible school when he agreed to preach at a distant church one Sunday afternoon. As he was preparing to go, Civilla began to feel sick, and he felt apprehensive about leaving her behind. Rev. Martin was feeling torn between his commitment to preach and his desire to take care of his wife, but his son helped clear things up for him by asking, “Father, don’t you think that if God wants you to preach today, He will take care of Mother while you are away?”

Needless to say, Rev. Martin listened to his son’s wise words, trusted the Lord to take care of his wife, and left to preach. And God was faithful in immeasurable ways that day. Rev. Martin saw many people come to faith in Christ after he gave his sermon. But when he arrived home, he was in for another blessing. In her husband’s absence, Mrs. Martin had begun to feel well enough to compose the lyrics to “God Will Take Care of You,” inspired by her son’s faith. She showed her husband when he returned home and he helped put it to music. They completed the song in time for him to include it in the songbook he had been working on, and as a result, generations of people have been blessed by it.

The Lord knows our steps before we take them, and “whate’er betide,” He will take care of us.