Great Lessons from Horatio Spafford
HORATIO GATES SPAFFORD (1828-1888) wrote the now-familiar hymn “It Is Well With My Soul” in 1873. He was born 20 October 1828 in Lansingburgh, Rensselaer County, NY.
Horatio Spafford, a successful lawyer wasn’t left out of the challenges of life.
Horatio’s Challenges.
The first of the challenges he faced was the death of his son at the age of two.
H. Spafford being a successful lawyer invested significantly in properties in the area of Chicago. However, there came a time when these properties were extensively damaged by the great Chicago fire.
Further to this, his business interests were further hit by the economic downturn of 1873, at the time he had planned to travel to Europe with his family. In a late change of plan, he sent the family ahead while he was delayed due to business concerns.
However, while crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank after a collision with a sea vessel, and all four of Spafford’s daughters died, just like the Biblical Job.
Fortunately, his wife, Anna, was saved from this tragedy. Shortly afterwards, as Spafford travelled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write the hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul,” as his ship passed where his daughters had died.
Challenges Are Inevitable
Challenges in life are normal and are wired to be part of life. Nothing worthwhile in life can be achieved exceptionally without developing the courage and guts to summon challenges and overcome them.
In the words of Tai Solarin, “May your Road be Rough”. He said this based on his experience in life and how one cannot get to the top without a dose of roughness on the path to one’s journey.
Biblical Examples
Read the Bible extensively and you will see that most of those whose names dominated the Bible were those who weathered the storms and remain dogged even against all odds of life’s challenges.
Daniel was thrown into Lion’s den, Joseph was unjustly sent to prison, Mordecai was victimized, the three Hebrew children were thrown into the Furnace, Paul and David were not left out. The list is endless.
Keep Hope Alive
What exactly are you going through at the moment? What are the situations in your life that are synonymous with the fire, prison or the lion’s den?
Get dissatisfied and let this drive you to your knees, for quick intervention and be resolute never to chicken out on what you going through.
You will sail through!
