Hank Williams was in no shape to drive after performing in Fort Deposit, Alabama. So, his long-suffering mother drove him and his band home to Montgomery.
It was January 1947. As she was approaching the city, she spotted the beacon light of Dannelly Field Airport and said, “Boys, we’re almost home. I just saw the light.”
In the back seat, Hank was drunk as he often was—and regretful over his life choices as he often was. He sensed some kind of religious significance in his mother’s comment, and the lyrics of a song began to form.
I wandered so aimless life filled with sin
I wouldn’t let my dear savior in
Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
I thought of that song while reading the story in John 9 of Jesus giving sight to a blind man. I wonder if Williams didn’t have this very story in mind as he sang—
Just like a blind man I wandered along
Worries and fears I claimed for my own
Then like the blind man that God gave back his sight
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
The song eventually became one of Hank Williams’ biggest hits and it’s now among the top standards for country and gospel music.
If you know anything about his life you know he didn’t live up to the aspiration of that song very often at all. But it remained his aspiration to the end of his life. His biographer called the song “the prayer of the backslider, who lives in hope of redemption.”
My invitation is to make that your hope, too.
We’ll study John 9 this Sunday. From this chapter we can learn to expect three things to increase as we follow Jesus: our understanding of him, our rejection because of him, and our encouragement from him. Read the passage now, and then join us at 10am on campus or online!
--Tom
Sign up here to receive Tom Goodman’s weekly devotional in your email inbox. Tom serves as pastor at Hillcrest Church in Austin, Texas. His sermons are available on YouTube and the HillcrestToGo Podcast and you can find him on Facebook and Twitter.