My good blogging friend, Kristy, left me a comment after yesterday's post, providing me with the following information regarding the hymn, It Is Well With My Soul. Many of you may already know the origin of the song, but I really wanted to share this with all of you. (Thanks for the information, Kristy.)
Horatio G. Spafford lived, with his wife and four daughters, in Chicago. He was a lawyer by profession and a devout and sincere Christian.
One day in 1873 he stood on the quayside in Chicago and bid farewell to his family as they set sail to visit relatives in far off Europe. He was not to realize that he would never see most of them again.
Some days later their ship, bound for Le Havre in France collided with another steamship in Mid-Atlantic, and sank almost immediately.
Before it did so, however, Mrs Spafford was able to have a prayer with her children and commit them to the mercy of the Lord. That was the last time she would ever see them on this earth.
Fortunately, a lifeboat spotted Mrs Spafford and she was rescued. When she arrived in Britain, with the rest of the survivors, she sent her husband this brief, but telling message: 'SAVED ALONE.'
The words struck Horatio Spafford with full force, and, understandably, plunged him into deep sorrow. He left for England, without delay, to comfort his grief-stricken wife.
The great American evangelist D.L. Moody and his associate, singer Ira D. Sankey, were conducting a campaign in Edinburgh at the time. They were personal friends of the Spaffords and came down to London to give whatever help and comfort they could. They found their friends in surprisingly good spirits, strong in faith and able to say through their tears, 'It is well; the will of God be done.'
Three years after that tragedy, Mr. Spafford wrote his hymn "It Is Well With My Soul", in memory of his four precious daughters. Happily each of them had personally received Jesus Christ as Savior before embarking on that fateful voyage.
It would be very difficult for any of us to predict how we would react under circumstances similar to those experienced by the Spaffords. But we do know that the God who sustained them would also be with us.
Horatio G. Spafford lived, with his wife and four daughters, in Chicago. He was a lawyer by profession and a devout and sincere Christian.
One day in 1873 he stood on the quayside in Chicago and bid farewell to his family as they set sail to visit relatives in far off Europe. He was not to realize that he would never see most of them again.
Some days later their ship, bound for Le Havre in France collided with another steamship in Mid-Atlantic, and sank almost immediately.
Before it did so, however, Mrs Spafford was able to have a prayer with her children and commit them to the mercy of the Lord. That was the last time she would ever see them on this earth.
Fortunately, a lifeboat spotted Mrs Spafford and she was rescued. When she arrived in Britain, with the rest of the survivors, she sent her husband this brief, but telling message: 'SAVED ALONE.'
The words struck Horatio Spafford with full force, and, understandably, plunged him into deep sorrow. He left for England, without delay, to comfort his grief-stricken wife.
The great American evangelist D.L. Moody and his associate, singer Ira D. Sankey, were conducting a campaign in Edinburgh at the time. They were personal friends of the Spaffords and came down to London to give whatever help and comfort they could. They found their friends in surprisingly good spirits, strong in faith and able to say through their tears, 'It is well; the will of God be done.'
Three years after that tragedy, Mr. Spafford wrote his hymn "It Is Well With My Soul", in memory of his four precious daughters. Happily each of them had personally received Jesus Christ as Savior before embarking on that fateful voyage.
It would be very difficult for any of us to predict how we would react under circumstances similar to those experienced by the Spaffords. But we do know that the God who sustained them would also be with us.
3 comments:
I love this story. Seems to me I read something similar somewhere else recently (a magazine?). What a testimony to this couples' faith in God. Wow.
I love that hymn. It was my dad's very favorite. Thanks for sharing the story because I did not know it.
As far as being friend #4...I went in alphabetical order so please don't think I put you at the bottom of my list! I should have said you were #7 though, shouldn't I? Ahhh man, why didn't I think of that sooner!
I'll be checking in on you, okay?
this is great stuff Kim, i googled- origin of hymn and your blog came up- so thanks for Sharing this. I am going to share with Friends too.. thank you
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