Steadfast Faith

Job 1:21

New International Version (NIV)

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”

My past two entries have been about testimonies and joy.  Last Sunday, while visiting a new church, the pastor preached about a certain man's testimony. The man's name was Horatio Gates Spafford and his testimony reflects the power of trusting God at all times, and the satisfaction that comes with it. I feel like now would be an appropriate time to share it, considering our last two topics.

Spafford's story takes place a little over a hundred years ago, but it's still very relevant to us. For those who aren't sure who Spafford is, he is the man who wrote the hymn "It Is Well With My Soul."  I'm going to do my best in paraphrasing his story, but if you aren't satisfied with my summary, you are welcome to look up the name "Horatio Gates Spafford" and read his story for yourself.

For those who do not know much about the great Chicago fire of 1871, it killed 300 people and left 100,000 homeless. In this fire, Spafford lost most of his money for he had invested it into real estate that had been burned down. Around the same time as the fire, he lost his only son (he had one son and four daughters.)  Still, he remained faithful to God and tried to help the people of the city get back on their feet. 

About two years later, Spafford and his family decided to take a vacation to Europe. Being held up by some business, Spafford told his family to go on without him and he'd meet up with them when he can.  The ship his family was on never made it to Europe.  It collided with another ship and sank within 20 minutes. After the wreck, Spafford received a terrible telegram from his wife, only two words long: "saved alone."  His four daughters didn't survive the wreck. Spafford then took a ship to meet up with his grief-stricken wife. On his way, perhaps around the place where his daughters died, Spafford wrote the song "It Is Well With My Soul," saying quietly "the will of God be done."

A lot can be said about a man who can look in the face of heartbreak and hardships and say "it is well with my soul."  Think about the kind of faith it takes to accept tragedies to this extent!  In all honesty, there are days that I don't feel like giving God the praise he deserves; there are days that I'd rather wallow in my own self-pity than seek comfort and warmth in God.  In times like this, I am the only person getting in the way of my relationship with God.  On the other hand, when Spafford was facing situations much more difficult than I've ever had to face, he held onto his faith in God. Now, over a hundred years later, his story is still an encouragement to others.

My prayer for every single person who reads this is that you can have the faith of Horatio Gates Strafford, that no matter what sort of circumstances you come across, you can know that God is in control. I pray that nothing can ever take away the deep love, joy, and satisfaction that you have in the Lord.