The Composer Who Was Already Finished

In the summer of 1741, George Frideric Handel was a ruined man. The once-celebrated composer had suffered a stroke that paralyzed his right side. Creditors circled. Audiences had abandoned him. At fifty-six, his career appeared to be over.

Then a libretto arrived from Charles Jennens — a collection of scripture passages telling the story of the Messiah. Something stirred in Handel. He began to compose. For twenty-four days he barely ate, barely slept, barely left his room. Music poured out of him like a river breaking through a dam. When his servant brought meals, he often found them untouched and Handel in tears over the manuscript.

When he finished the "Hallelujah Chorus," Handel reportedly said, "I did think I did see all heaven before me, and the great God Himself."

The Messiah — arguably the most beloved sacred composition ever written — came not from a man at the height of his powers but from a broken man at the bottom of his. That is how grace works. The Almighty does not wait for us to get ourselves together. He meets us in the ruin. He hands us something beautiful to do precisely when we are most convinced we have nothing left to offer.

You may feel finished. But the God who wrote music through a paralyzed composer is not finished with you.