My initial thought in writing about Andrew Murray (1827-1917) was to acknowledge that I do not belong in his league. He was a spiritual giant. Yet when I read the story of Andrew’s marital engagement, I relax. This is more like it, someone with whom I can identify.
Andrew at age twenty-seven was already a capable, confident minister. “Never fear” was his motto. He was sent by the British government to South Africa on a diplomatic assignment and stayed with the Rutherford family in their home. Andrew was attracted to twenty-year-old Emma Rutherford and proposed to her prior to his departure. His approach was businesslike and his offer poorly timed. Emma was in the middle of helping with a child’s birthday party. She was stunned and rendered speechless by the proposal since they had known each other less than a month. She wrote the next day, flatly refusing his offer. She expressed in a letter to her sister, “It pains me that one of no ordinary mental capacity and vigor of piety should be so totally devoid of proper feelings.” Andrew sent an apology to Emma and left the door open to further contact.
After a flurry of letters, Emma reversed course and accepted his marriage proposal, with the proviso that they would spend more time together. They were married in 1865 and flourished as a couple for forty-eight years. Andrew credited his blunders as an event with jump-starting his deeper walk with Christ. He served as a South African pastor and a prodigious author. Today’s prayer is taken from his book, With Christ in the School of Prayer: