This is a story I've told at concerts many times, but it's worth sharing through this blog as well.
Horatio Gates Spafford was a prominent lawyer in Chicago in the years during and after the Civil War. He was also well known as a supporter and friend of Christian Evangelist D.L. Moody. Horatio and his wife, Anna were living the American dream: wealth and prosperity, part of a growing city, and a growing family. Before long they had a son and four young daughters. However, it wasn't long before things went bad, and then went from bad to worse.
In 1870, Horatio and Anna's only son died of pneumonia at the age of four. As a dad of three kids, I cannot even wrap my mind around the grief that must have been theirs. The next spring, they invested much of their wealth in real estate on the north side of the growing city of Chicago. Just a few months later, in October, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed almost all of their investments.
Two years later in 1873, to benefit Anna's health the family decided to take a holiday somewhere in Europe. They chose England knowing that their friend D.L. Moody would be preaching there in the fall. Horatio was delayed because of business, so he sent his wife and four children ahead to England. Anna, along with eleven-year-old Anna “Annie”, nine-year-old Margaret Lee, five-year-old Elizabeth “Bessie”, and two-year-old Tanetta.
On November 22, 1873, while crossing the Atlantic Ocean on the steamship Ville du Havre, they were struck by a sailing vessel. 226 people were killed. When she arrived in England, Anna Spafford sent her husband a telegram which began, "Saved alone. What shall I do?" All four daughters had died. Two year old Tanetta had been in the water, just inches out of reach of her desperate mother who reached for her, only to watch her slip away.
Horatio Spafford rushed to be with his wife in England just as quickly as he could. On the voyage, the captain of the ship called him to the deck when they arrived at the location where his precious daughters had died. He later wrote to his sister-in-law Rachel, "On Thursday last we passed over the spot where she went down, in mid-ocean, the waters three miles deep. But I do not think of our dear ones there. They are safe, folded, the dear lambs."
Spafford then returned to his cabin, took out some paper, and began to write the only hymn he ever wrote:
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
(Refrain:) It is well (it is well),
with my soul (with my soul),
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
(Refrain)
My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
(Refrain)
And Lord haste the day, when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
(Refrain)
Those words, which have comforted millions for the past century, were written down by a grief-stricken father who had lost all five of his children and all his wealth in the span of three short years. A man who, despite everything, found a way to experience what Philippians calls the "peace of God, which transcends all understanding."
Horatio and Anna Spafford had another son, and he too died at the age of four. Their church regarded what happened to them as divine punishment for something they'd done wrong. Eventually they did have two daughters who outlived their parents. In August 1881, the Spaffords set out for Jerusalem as a party of thirteen adults and three children and set up the American Colony. Colony members, later joined by Swedish Christians, engaged in philanthropic work amongst the people of Jerusalem regardless of their religious affiliation and without proselytizing motives—thereby gaining the trust of the local Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities. During and immediately after World War I, long after Horatio Spafford's death, the American Colony played a critical role in supporting these communities through the great suffering and deprivations of that time.
Every time I'm tempted to think my life is not going so well, I think of Horatio Spafford. I wonder what would have happened if, after he experienced unimaginable grief, he'd simply given up. What about all of those people he helped in Jerusalem? What about those who were helped so many years after he was gone? What if he'd blamed God for his terrible misfortune and had never written those comforting words of hope? When Job lost everything, his wife told him, "Curse God and die!" But it was Job who said, "The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."
This past year has been among the most challenging and life-changing that I've experienced. Some of it outside of my control, much of it based on my own decisions. I know that many of you reading this are right now going through challenges in life that I couldn't even begin to imagine. The unfortunate reality of this life is that people lose their jobs, relationships are broken, we get hurt by others and we hurt others in unspeakable ways, and yes, children die. Life is full of unfathomable sadness, and it's full of incredible joy. If we experience more of the latter than we do of the former, we consider ourselves blessed.
I know from my own life and through the lives of others that God has a way of using the worst experiences of our lives to create something beautiful and amazing. It's all about perspective. We see everything in the "right now." God sees things from an eternal perspective. When my wife and I lost our unborn child in 2011, the grief wasn't because we would never meet that child...we both firmly believe that one day we will. It's because we have to wait. Wait until this life is over for that joy of meeting our child. When life throws at us the very worst it has to offer, it's incredibly painful, but it is always temporary. Someday the worst of life will be a distant memory in the joy of heaven. That's what the author of 2nd Corinthians was talking about when he said, "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
I don't know what troubles you may have faced or may be facing still. I do know God is bigger than any of them...and that no matter how long they last, they are at their very worst temporary, because this world is not our home. We were created for a perfect world, and so this broken and sinful place we call "home" is nothing but a temporary dwelling place, as are these fragile bodies we inhabit.
It's not always easy to do...but let's "fix our eyes on not what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Someday the very worst of this life will be a distant memory. I for one can't wait for that day - that day when there is no more physical or emotional pain. No more bills to pay, no more complicated relationships to navigate. No more cancer or war or famine, no more sadness. In the meantime I'll make the very best of this life, and I hope and pray that you will too. My hope and prayer is, as a grieving father once wrote:
And Lord haste the day, when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
Horatio Gates Spafford was a prominent lawyer in Chicago in the years during and after the Civil War. He was also well known as a supporter and friend of Christian Evangelist D.L. Moody. Horatio and his wife, Anna were living the American dream: wealth and prosperity, part of a growing city, and a growing family. Before long they had a son and four young daughters. However, it wasn't long before things went bad, and then went from bad to worse.
 | |
| Horatio Gates Spafford |
Two years later in 1873, to benefit Anna's health the family decided to take a holiday somewhere in Europe. They chose England knowing that their friend D.L. Moody would be preaching there in the fall. Horatio was delayed because of business, so he sent his wife and four children ahead to England. Anna, along with eleven-year-old Anna “Annie”, nine-year-old Margaret Lee, five-year-old Elizabeth “Bessie”, and two-year-old Tanetta.
On November 22, 1873, while crossing the Atlantic Ocean on the steamship Ville du Havre, they were struck by a sailing vessel. 226 people were killed. When she arrived in England, Anna Spafford sent her husband a telegram which began, "Saved alone. What shall I do?" All four daughters had died. Two year old Tanetta had been in the water, just inches out of reach of her desperate mother who reached for her, only to watch her slip away.
 | |
| Anna Spafford's 1873 telegram to her husband |
Spafford then returned to his cabin, took out some paper, and began to write the only hymn he ever wrote:
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
(Refrain:) It is well (it is well),
with my soul (with my soul),
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
(Refrain)
My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
(Refrain)
And Lord haste the day, when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
(Refrain)
Those words, which have comforted millions for the past century, were written down by a grief-stricken father who had lost all five of his children and all his wealth in the span of three short years. A man who, despite everything, found a way to experience what Philippians calls the "peace of God, which transcends all understanding."
 | |
| Horatio Spafford's manuscript of "It Is Well" |
Every time I'm tempted to think my life is not going so well, I think of Horatio Spafford. I wonder what would have happened if, after he experienced unimaginable grief, he'd simply given up. What about all of those people he helped in Jerusalem? What about those who were helped so many years after he was gone? What if he'd blamed God for his terrible misfortune and had never written those comforting words of hope? When Job lost everything, his wife told him, "Curse God and die!" But it was Job who said, "The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."
This past year has been among the most challenging and life-changing that I've experienced. Some of it outside of my control, much of it based on my own decisions. I know that many of you reading this are right now going through challenges in life that I couldn't even begin to imagine. The unfortunate reality of this life is that people lose their jobs, relationships are broken, we get hurt by others and we hurt others in unspeakable ways, and yes, children die. Life is full of unfathomable sadness, and it's full of incredible joy. If we experience more of the latter than we do of the former, we consider ourselves blessed.
I know from my own life and through the lives of others that God has a way of using the worst experiences of our lives to create something beautiful and amazing. It's all about perspective. We see everything in the "right now." God sees things from an eternal perspective. When my wife and I lost our unborn child in 2011, the grief wasn't because we would never meet that child...we both firmly believe that one day we will. It's because we have to wait. Wait until this life is over for that joy of meeting our child. When life throws at us the very worst it has to offer, it's incredibly painful, but it is always temporary. Someday the worst of life will be a distant memory in the joy of heaven. That's what the author of 2nd Corinthians was talking about when he said, "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
I don't know what troubles you may have faced or may be facing still. I do know God is bigger than any of them...and that no matter how long they last, they are at their very worst temporary, because this world is not our home. We were created for a perfect world, and so this broken and sinful place we call "home" is nothing but a temporary dwelling place, as are these fragile bodies we inhabit.
It's not always easy to do...but let's "fix our eyes on not what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Someday the very worst of this life will be a distant memory. I for one can't wait for that day - that day when there is no more physical or emotional pain. No more bills to pay, no more complicated relationships to navigate. No more cancer or war or famine, no more sadness. In the meantime I'll make the very best of this life, and I hope and pray that you will too. My hope and prayer is, as a grieving father once wrote:
And Lord haste the day, when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
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