Long ago, he was a prosperous lawyer in Chicago and a pillar in the Presbyterian Church there. In 1871 he and his wife Anna suffered terribly in the great Chicago fire. In November of 1873 Anna and the children set sail for Europe and Horatio stayed home to tend to some business affairs. On December 2nd he received a telegram. It read, "Saved alone. What shall I do?"
The ship had collided with a British vessel and sunk! Four daughters drowned and Anna survived. He left for England immediately to bring Anna home. During the journey while on the sailing ship, he wrote the lyrics to the hymn that would become an anthem testifying to the providence of God.
The Spaffords eventually moved to Jerusalem and formed a Christian society to help people of all faiths and creeds. The group moved to a large home outside the city walls. It became a hostel, then a hotel. The Spaffords had more children, one daughter Bertha raised her six children in that house. Today it is a beautiful oasis in the middle of the Muslim section of East Jerusalem and is owned by the Southern Baptist Convention as a house of prayer for all who enter.
The Horatio Spafford story is one that we tell as guides at the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem. He and his friend Major Gordon were instrumental in locating the "place of the skull" just outside the Garden Gate. Major Gordons apartment window overlooked the carved rock. There is no doubt that the devout believer Mr. Spafford shared his excitement as they peered over the wall to the old rock quarry where countless lives were lost through horrible crucifixions in days gone by.
Last year as we walked those ancient and troubled streets, we happened upon the gate to the "Bertha Spafford House." We rang the bell perched on the entrance gate not knowing the history we were about to experience. An elderly couple that oversees the property gave us a lovely tour of the house and explained it's famous former owners connection. THIS is the piano that Bertha Spafford owned and perhaps even Horatio himself played that famous song on those very keys.
They asked if I wanted to play that old upright. YES! It was in perfect tune and we four sang all the verses of "It is Well With My Soul." I couldn't help but "see" in my minds eye the children that would have sat there and sung there, the parents that would have patiently taught them the words, & the old lawyer himself choking back tears as he remembered that fateful voyage that snatched his four beautiful daughters from this world. Tears flowed down my face as I contemplated the depth of his sorrow and the depth of his faith.
"When sorrow like sea billows roll...
"Whatever my lot....
"Christ has regarded my helpless estate...
"The clouds be rolled back as a scroll....
No matter what...no matter what.....It Is Well With My Soul.
How trusting, how peaceful, how TRUE.....
Nothing calms the soul like the doctrine of the Sovereignty of God. He's got it....and He's got us in the palm of His mighty hand.
SOVEREIGN......He either IS or He ISN'T! There is no middle ground.
No comments:
Post a Comment