When a Young Man's Simple Words Became a Hymn

In 1887, musician Daniel B. Towner was leading worship at a D.L. Moody evangelistic meeting when something unexpected happened during the testimony time. A young man — no one famous, no one whose name history even preserved — stood nervously before the crowd. He did not offer a polished speech or a dramatic conversion story. He simply said, "I'm not quite sure about everything, but I am going to trust, and I am going to obey."

Towner was so struck by those unadorned words that he wrote them down on the spot and later sent them to hymn writer John H. Sammis. From that single moment of honest surrender came one of the most enduring hymns in the church: "Trust and Obey." For over a century, congregations around the world have sung, "There is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

What moves me about this story is that obedience did not begin with certainty. The young man admitted he was not sure about everything. But he chose to step forward anyway. He did not wait until every question was answered. He simply placed one foot in front of the other and followed the Lord.

That is how obedience works for most of us. The Almighty rarely asks us to understand first and obey second. He asks us to walk, and promises the path will make sense as we go. Trust first. Obey now. Understanding comes in the walking.