Charlotte Elliott

Charlotte Elliott was born March 18th, 1789 in Clapham, England.  Her first thirty years were filled with joy and blessing.  She was a professional artist making her living as a portrait artist and a writer of humorous verse.  Charlotte was such a cheerful and happy woman that she earned the nickname “carefree Charlotte”.

Shortly after her thirtieth birthday Charlotte’s health suddenly and dramatically failed.  She was beset by an undiagnosed debilitating illness and was forced to spend most of every day in bed.  Charlotte described her condition as, “frequent bodily feelings of overpowering weakness, exhaustion day after day, hour after hour and great physical suffering.”  There seemed to be no end in sight and Charlotte became depressed and despondent defiantly blaming God for her suffering.  This continued on for years. 

One particular evening in 1822 Charlotte’s father, a Godly man, in an effort to encourage his daughter, invited a friend over for dinner.  His friend was a Swiss minister, evangelist and musician named Dr. Cesar Malan.  Towards the end of dinner Charlotte became angry and lashed out at God her family and their guest.  Deeply embarrassed by the situation, her parents left the room leaving Dr. Malan and Charlotte alone. 

Dr. Malan challenged her saying, “You had become tired of yourself.  You are holding onto hate and anger be becoming sour, bitter and resentful.”  Charlotte responded, broken and convicted by his words, asking how she could know the peace and joy that he spoke of.

Dr. Malan responded, “Come as you are to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  Bring your fears, hate, temper and pride and He will give you love and peace in their place.” 

Charlotte put her trust in Jesus that night and was a changed person from that time on.  She celebrated that day each year as her “spiritual birthday” when she went from “despair to faith”.

Charlotte never recovered her health.  She was confined almost exclusively to her home for the rest of her life.  She lived to the old age of eighty-two and wrote over one hundred fifty hymns which were published as the “Invalid’s Hymnbook”. 

Charlotte’s life was transformed by the grace and love of Jesus Christ.  The question that begs to be asked is why didn’t he heal her body as well as her soul?  Ultimately there is no answer to this question.  God spoke to the apostle Paul in a similar situation saying:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
(2Cor 12.9 ESV)

All we know is that the miracle in Charlotte’s life was a more internal one that enabled her to find joy and praise her Creator despite her circumstances.

Charlotte is best know as the writer of “Just as I Am”.  In 1836 her brother was raising funds to build a school for poor clergymen.  She wrote the song to help with the effort and called it her “spiritual autobiography”.  Little did she know, as she told her story in song, that it would become the theme song for Billy Graham and be used to call millions to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.  Just as I Am is a declaration of joy in the midst of suffering, confidence in the midst of doubt and salvation just as we are.