On Sunday July 11th, Pastor Scott spoke on being content. Whatever we are going through in our lives, we know that we can count on the consistency that God offers us. In my life, I often struggle with being content with where I am and not continually looking to the future. We can take a lesson from Horatio G. Spafford and learn that circumstance has no bearing on our happiness and contentment in life. For those of you who were not here on Sunday, here is his story:

Mr. Spafford was a Chicago lawyer. Him and his wife, Anna, were pretty well-known and successful in 1860’s Chicago. However, things started to go wrong. The Spaffords’ only son was killed by scarlet fever at the age of four. A year later, it was fire rather than fever that struck. Horatio had invested heavily in real estate on the shores of Lake Michigan. In 1871, every one of these holdings was wiped out by the great Chicago Fire.The Spaffords traveled to New York in November, from where they were to catch the French steamer ‘Ville de Havre’ across the Atlantic. Yet just before they set sail, a last-minute business development forced Horatio to delay. Not wanting to ruin the family holiday, Spafford persuaded his family to go as planned. He would follow on later. With this decided, Anna and her four daughters sailed East to Europe while Spafford returned West to Chicago. Just nine days later, Spafford received a telegram from his wife in Wales. It read: “Saved alone.” On November 2nd 1873, the ‘Ville de Havre’ had collided with ‘The Lochearn’, an English vessel. It sank in only 12 minutes, claiming the lives of 226 people. Upon hearing the terrible news, Horatio Spafford boarded the next ship out of New York to join his bereaved wife. Bertha Spafford (the fifth daughter of Horatio and Anna born later) explained that during her father’s voyage, the captain of the ship had called him to the bridge. “A careful reckoning has been made”, he said, “and I believe we are now passing the place where the de Havre was wrecked. The water is three miles deep.” Horatio then returned to his cabin and penned the lyrics of his great hymn.

The words which Spafford wrote that day come from 2 Kings 4:26. They echo the response of the Shunammite
woman to the sudden death of her only child. Though we are told “her soul is vexed within her”, she still
maintains that ‘It is well.” And Spafford’s song reveals a man whose trust in the Lord is as unwavering as hers
was. It would be very difficult for any of us to predict how we would react under circumstances similar to those
experienced by the Spaffords. But we do know that the God who sustained them would also be with us.

Blessings,
Kyle Campbell-Worship Director

History taken from http://www.biblestudycharts.com/A_Daily_Hymn.html