08/13/2019
âIn 1849, when Tubman was in her late twenties, she felt she heard the Lordâs voice urging her to flee northward. After an initial attempt with her two brothers that failed, she set out again by herself, hiding during daylight hours and traveling by night, fixing her eyes on the North Star for direction.
She was a devout Christian and often experienced visions and vivid dreams, which she ascribed to premonitions and revelations from God. She rejected the teachings of the New Testament that urged slaves to be obedient and found guidance in the Old Testament tales of deliverance. This religious perspective informed her actions throughout her life.
Tubmanâs faith was a major resource on these dangerous missions. She often spoke of âconsulting with God,â and trusted that He would keep her safe, according to Catherine Clintonâs account in On the Road To Harriet Tubman. Tubman said she would listen carefully to the voice of God as she led slaves north, and she would only go where she felt God was leading her. Abolitionist Quaker Thomas Garrett, who worked with her said, âI never met with any person of any color who had more confidence in the voice of God, as spoken direct to her soul.â Her faith in God seemed to always bring immediate assistance. She used spiritual songs as coded messages, warning escaping slaves of danger or directing them toward a safe path.
In one instance God warned her she must turn aside from the path she was on and cross a rushing river immediately. Not knowing the depth, the men with her hesitated. Harriet stepped boldly into the current, and found it never rose above her chin, according to an account. When the men saw she was safely across, they followed her. Later Harriet learned that a group of desperate men had been waiting on the path they were traveling and planned to seize them. If she had not responded to Godâs âstill small voice,â they would have been captured.
Once God warned her that her parents were in danger. God directed her to go to a certain house and ask for 20 dollars. âThe owner of the house told her that the Lord had sent her to the wrong place. Harriet would not budge, but drifted asleep, waking only long enough to insist that she wasnât leaving until she got the money. Visitors passing through the busy house spread her story and collected $60 for her. Her father, it turned out, was facing criminal charges for helping runaway slaves, and the money was needed to whisk him to Canada,â Graves noted. âSudden deliverance never seemed to strike her as at all mysterious,â biographer Sarah Bradford wrote. âHer prayer was the prayer of faith and she expected an answer . . . . When surprise was expressed at her courage and daring, or at her unexpected deliverance, she would always reply, âDonât, I tell you, Missus. It wasnât me. It was the Lord!â
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