The Composer Who Wouldn't Stay Silent

In the summer of 1741, George Frideric Handel was a broken man. At fifty-six, the once-celebrated composer was buried in debt, partially paralyzed from a stroke, and largely forgotten by London's fickle audiences. His operas had flopped. His creditors circled. Most people assumed his career was over.

Then a libretto arrived from Charles Jennens — a collection of scripture passages telling the story of the Messiah. Something stirred in Handel. He sat down at his desk and began to write.

For twenty-four days, he barely ate or slept. The music poured out of him — 259 pages of orchestral score. When he finished the "Hallelujah Chorus," his servant found him weeping. "I did think I did see all Heaven before me," Handel said, "and the great God Himself."

Messiah went on to become one of the most performed choral works in history. But it was born in a season of ruin.

The apostle Paul wrote, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair" (2 Corinthians 4:8). Handel's story reminds us that God does not wait for our circumstances to improve before He works through us. Some of the most beautiful things the Almighty brings into this world are composed in seasons of suffering.

Your hardest chapter may be the one God uses most.