Soul desire

On October 8, 1871, Horatio Spafford, a successful attorney and real estate investor, began to experience what would become his life’s purpose; to overcome tragedy with triumph through Christ.  The journey began after the loss of one of his five children and only son.  Only a few short months later the Great Chicago Fires would consume his real estate investments lending a devastating blow to his financial security, wiping out his entire life savings.  Just as the Spafford family attempted to rebuild their lives, life dealt Horatio and his wife, Anna, the final blow; the loss of their four daughters to the sinking of the S.S. Ville De Havre on November 22, 1873.  Can you only imagine what helpless hopelessness threatened to take whatever joy, purpose and strength both Horatio and Anna, had left?  But God…… 

^“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

The result of such tragedy spurred Horatio to write one of the beloved hymns the Christian faith has ever known; “It is well with my soul”.  Spafford was a man of many, many sorrows.  From the world’s perspective, Horatio surely had reason to be bitter, angry and confused toward God.  The list of reasons why someone could have confusion and issues over the way their life turned out or why God didn’t protect them could barely ever be trumped by what Spafford's faced during their lives here on earth.  How much more can a person take than that, you might ask?  Any how could any one of us turn those tragedies into triumphant purpose for Christ?  Where does that kind of faith come from?  Only from a deep and abiding faith in God through Christ will our true faith rise up.  It was during the long ride across the Ocean to retrieve Anna, that Horatio penned the famous hymn, “It is well with my soul” as he neared his four daughter’s final resting place.   Following their final tragedy, the Spafford’s turned their sorrow into service for Christ, becoming missionaries in 1881 for Christ through their outreach to spread the gospel in Jerusalem to both the Jews and Muslims   

Remember this if you remember nothing else when tragedy strikes:  God took it upon Himself to experience human tragedy when He allowed Christ to be beaten and nailed to a cross, taking our place here on earth so that one day we’d taste eternity in heaven.  God demonstrated the understanding of even our greatest loss, sorrow and pain when He watched His only son suffering in our place.  What the Spafford’s did with that kind of understanding leads us to not only repent of our own lack of understanding but turns us toward the One who completely understands:  Christ.

Thought to live by:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu42EN42zEQ

“Who’s your daddy; knowing God as Abba Father” is a devotional written by Pat Ferguson, 2011