Week 51 Day 3

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The Reality of God

He which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

James 5:20

My God, I feel the mournful scene;

My bowels yearn o’er dying men;

And fain my pity would reclaim,

And snatch the firebrands from the flame.

The diary of Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells gives insight as to how Lincoln ultimately decided to emancipate the slaves. “There were differences in the cabinet, but [Lincoln] had made his own decisions,” wrote Wells. But, Lincoln “made a vow, a covenant, that if God gave us the victory in the approaching battle, he would consider it his duty to move forward in the cause of emancipation. . . . God has decided the question in favor of the slaves.” According to Wells and others, Lincoln made the decision to free the slaves only after spending time in prayer and making a vow before God. For Lincoln, God was the final court of appeal. He was more than an esoteric ideal; he was a very personal and practical source of power and enlightenment.