By Catherine Ulrich Brakefield
Born
dirt poor, in a one-room cabin in the primitive backwoods of Kentucky, with
little formal education, his business enterprises often failing, his love life
often wanting, and his political career in shambles, Abraham Lincoln persevered
toward his God-ordained destiny.
He never apologized for his humble beginnings and once told a person, “I am not ashamed to confess that twenty-five years ago I was a hired laborer, mauling rails, at work on a flat-boat – just what might happen to any poor man’s son. “
But
now, Abe had hit a brick wall. He spent hours contemplating his life choices during
the weary weeks in the saddle riding the circuit, serving the remote towns and
villages.
On one depressing day, which happened
to be a Sunday, he decided to listen to Reverand James F. Jacques preach about
the new birth. Moved by what he heard, Lincoln sought Jacques a few days later.
They spent hours talking, and then they prayed together.
Jacques
later said, "I have seen hundreds brought to Christ, and if ever a person
was converted, Abraham Lincoln was converted that night in my house. "
Lincoln read his Bible in earnest now. He was ready to toss politics out with his new conversion. He humbly had said, “Though I now sink out of view, and shall be forgotten, I believe I have made some marks which will tell for the cause of civil liberty long after I am gone.”
But his wife felt God was calling him to help
their countrymen. She encouraged him not to give up, and so he ran for
president in 1860—and won!
The South threatened secession, the
abolitionists wanted the slaves' freedom. Lincoln diligently read and studied his
Bible. His daily readings encouraged Lincoln to remain hopeful. After all,
there were Christians in the South as well as the North. God loved all equally.
His Divine Providence would conquer Satan’s deviousness. All would work out
right for his countrymen, northerners, and southerners alike.
I display these thoughts in the
passages I quote in Swept into Destiny on Lincoln’s inauguration address
to the public. “I have no purpose,
directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States
where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no
inclination to do so.”
Lincoln made it clear, he would do God’s bidding and keep these United States united, “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn oath to ‘preserve, protect, and defend it.”
Lincoln, with his son, Willie, beside
him, looked out at the crowd compassionately, yet with a heavy heart. “We are
not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have
strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic cords of memory,
stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave, to every living heart and
hearthstone, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as
surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
Two years later, Tad and Willie fell ill with typhoid fever. Tad recovered, but Willie died. “My poor boy, he was too good for this earth. God has called him home,” Lincoln moaned. Willie was only eleven years old. William (Willie) Wallace Lincoln died on February 20, 1862. Sorrow trodden on the footsteps of Lincoln. Still, through the hardships of losing two sons (he had lost Eddie when he died of consumption at the young age of three years old, in 1850, and sadly, unknown to Abe at the time, he would lose Tad when he turned eighteen years old) Lincoln's faith remained unwavering. The Lincoln family continued to attend the Presbyterian Church on New York Avenue in Washington, DC.
With the Civil War in full fury, the
hours of Lincoln's day were too fleeting to fulfill everyone's needs. Acquiring
an interview with him was extremely difficult. One gentleman arrived fifteen
minutes early for his 5:00 a.m. appointment. Waiting outside of Lincoln's
office, he heard muttering, and he asked the secretary who it could be. Is
someone in there with the president?
"No,
he (President Lincoln) is reading the Bible and praying."
"Is
that his habit so early in the morning?"
"Yes,
sir, he spends each morning from four to five reading the Scriptures and
praying."
Throughout President Lincoln's remaining years, he sought guidance from the Bible and often quoted Mark 3:25: "'A house divided against itself cannot stand,' and I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free."
God’s
Word, the Bible, was Lincoln’s constant companion. He never shied from asking
for help from his fellow Christians. Twice, Lincoln called for a day of
humility, asking God's direction by fasting and prayer, in 1861, and again in
1863.
On his knees, he pleaded his case
before the Almighty God. His concern was that it was God's judgment on the
United States due to exploiting the slaves. He called for prayer, for
"malice towards none and charity to all."
That
‘charity’ was needed more than ever when Lincoln was called to the bloodied
fields of Gettysburg.
Don’t
miss next month’s spine-chilling conclusion.
DESTINY’S WHIRLWIND (book 2 of the Destiny Series) A deathbed promise, a dashing Rough Rider, the parable of the Sower, take on unimaginable consequences. A disgruntled in-law and a vindictive lawyer place the McConnell clan in the clutches of life’s tangled web of deception and greed. As Collina fights to keep her promise, the words of Esther 8:6 ring in her thoughts. “How can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people?”
Destiny’s Whirlwind by Catherine
Brakefield is a beautiful inspirational love story that will reel you in and
win your heart…The story is beautifully written and filled with triumph and
heartbreak. I couldn’t put it down…” LS
Catherine is the award-winning author of Wilted Dandelions, Swept into Destiny, Destiny’s Whirlwind, Destiny of Heart, Waltz with Destiny and Love's Final Sunrise. She has written two pictorial history books, The Lapeer Area and Eastern Lapeer, and short stories for Guideposts Books, CrossRiver Media Group, Revell Books, Bethany House Publishers. Catherine and her husband of fifty-three years live on a ranch in Michigan and have two adult children, five grandchildren, four Arabian horses, three dogs, two cats, one bunny, and six chickens. See CatherineUlrichBrakefield.com for more information.
References:
https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/lincoln-quotes/?sort=1a&pg=44&sz=10&q=
https://lightmagazine.ca/abraham-lincolns-freeing-encounter-with-christ/
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/march-20/republican-party-founded
https://www.history.com/articles/abrham-lincoln-family
Swept into Destiny, copyright 2017
Catherine Ulrich Brakefield Pgs. 173,174
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