“God Will Take Care Of You” - Civilla D. Martin

1866–1948

Civilla Martin was sick in bed one Sunday. Her husband, a minister and musician, had a preaching engagement some distance away, but he thought he should cancel it to stay home with her. As they discussed this, their nine-year-old son piped up, “Father, don’t you think that if God wants you to preach today, he will take care of Mother while you are away?”

The kid’s logic was solid. So Walter Martin kept his preaching gig and returned late that night to find Civilla feeling much better. She also handed him some new song lyrics. Taking her cue from their son’s precocious comment, Civilla had written “God Will Take Care of You.”

Walter rushed to his keyboard and quickly created a tune. Some friends came over, and they sang it together. He managed to get the new work into a hymnal he was compiling, and the rest is history. Thousands of believers have taken comfort from Civilla’s sickbed song.

Another comforting song from Civilla’s pen had its genesis beside another sickbed. As the Martins were tending to an ailing friend, they asked if their friend ever got discouraged by her illness. How could she remain so positive? The friend referred to Jesus’ comment about God caring for sparrows . . . and a song began brewing in the lyricist’s head.

“His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” written in 1905, became a hit in the following decades, primarily in the African American community. Gospel singer Ethel Waters popularized it, but many other singers have covered it. Beginning in 1957, Ethel Waters sang it often at Billy Graham rallies.

Civilla Martin’s lyrics express joy in the midst of difficulty. To cynical minds, that might seem like denial, but it’s actually built on a sober trust in a God who cares for us more than we could ever know. Discouraging things happen; there are times of loneliness. You might be going through such a time right now. But God has not abandoned you. He draws close to you in your time of need. The God whose eye is on the sparrow is certainly watching you with love.

What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them.

Luke 12:6