“Jesus Paid It All” - Elvina Hall

1820–89

You’re in church, listening to the sermon, and an idea hits. You feel the idea is good—inspired even—and you don’t want to lose it. You pull out your smartphone, open up the notes section, and record it quickly. Maybe the person next to you gives you a little disapproving look, or maybe the person next to you is doing the same thing.

Elvina Hall was in that position 150 years ago. With no smartphone, and no spare paper either, she grabbed a hymnal and scribbled on its flyleaf a poem that came to her during her pastor’s sermon. When she showed it to the pastor, he paired it with a tune the church organist had given him, resulting in the hymn “Jesus Paid It All.”

We’re not sure what the pastor’s sermon was about that day, but it led Elvina to contemplate strength—how little she felt she had on her own and how much she had in Jesus.

I hear the Savior say,

“Thy strength indeed is small;

Child of weakness, watch and pray,

Find in Me thine all in all.”

We are often tempted to trust in our own power. We try to impress God with our righteousness. We face temptation with our own moral willpower. We easily forget that we are, indeed, “child[ren] of weakness.” We must trust Christ for everything.

“Jesus Paid It All” is still sung in many churches today. Not long ago it was recorded by popular Christian artist Kristian Stanfill, reaching a generation that Elvina never could have dreamed would find new comfort from her hastily scrawled verses.

And that hymnal flyleaf carries another lesson for us: inspiration doesn’t always strike at convenient times. When it comes, write it down, record it, text it, or pray it—just don’t lose it.

It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD.

Zechariah 4:6