Recently I paged through a book called Lives of Early Methodist Preachers, a collection of accounts written by John Wesley's own preachers, in their own words. What wonderful people of God these were! John Haime, for example, was a gardener's son who enlisted as a soldier and became one of the earliest Methodist preachers to serve in the British army.
A restless heart before the battle began
He was drawn to a rough crowd as a young man, and described himself as given to cursing, swearing and Sabbath-breaking, yet never truly at peace. In his own words, "God met me as a lion in the way. I had no rest day or night. I was afraid to go to bed lest the devil should fetch me away before morning." Perhaps that sounds familiar to some of us.
Haime enlisted as a dragoon and began seeking God. Slowly but surely peace began to come to him, particularly as he prayed and fasted, until one evening he cried out for God to hear him. The Lord answered him, saying: "I have loved thee with an everlasting love." Haime’s life was changed! And he took a newfound faith and character into everything after this, including the battlefield.
Courage that stands on His presence
A few years later Haime found himself at the Battle of Fontenoy, and was under fire for seven hours. An officer was watching him hold his ground amid the chaos and called out, "Haime, where is your God now?" Haime replied: "Sir, He is here with me, and He will bring me out of this battle." Soon after, a cannonball killed the horse beneath him, and another horse fell across him. Men nearby shouted that he was finished. He answered simply, "He is not gone yet."
This reminds me of what David wrote centuries before: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1). Haime never claimed the danger wasn't real. He carried real fear into a real battle. What he held onto was that the God who had met and saved him now stood beside him as his defence.
What he refused to pick up afterwards
Once the fighting ended, soldiers moved among the fallen, gathering up watches and gold left behind on the field. Someone asked Haime if he wouldn't take something for himself. His answer was "No, I have got Christ. I will have no plunder." When you’ve found your true treasure in Christ, you have little appetite for lesser treasures. Obedience to Him means more.
Perhaps you will never stand where Haime stood, but all of us know what it is to fight an illness, grief, financial pressure, a relationship in pieces. Let this testimony inspire you today. Don’t look for an escape route out of the battle. Look to your God who will stand beside you in the thick of it.
The remarkable true story of John Haime, an 18th-century Methodist soldier-preacher who stood firm under cannon fire at Fontenoy because he knew God was with him. A powerful word for anyone facing their own battle today.