Sorry, I’ve been late getting part two of the Spafford’s story out. There is so much worthwhile to share about the strong faith that I struggled with what to include. Or rather what not to include. I always think it’s best to let the person speak for themselves. Thankfully their daughter recorded some of what they said about their faith in her book, Our Jerusalem.[i] So, I’ve compiled a few of Anna and Horatio’s quotes that stood out to me. If I was impressed with the Spaffords’ faith before, I am even more so now.
Horatio’s faith
The night the Ville du Havre was hit by the Lock Hern, Horatio had been writing a letter to his wife. He spoke lovingly of their four daughters and of how he looked forward to meeting up with them. Little did he realize that they had already left this earthly world.
A day or so later, Anna’s cable arrived, telling him she was “saved alone.” After he received it, his friend, Major Whittle and another friend came over and stayed with him through the night. As morning dawned, Horatio turned to Major Whittle and said,
“I am glad to trust the Lord when it will cost me something,”
What he said reminded me of 2 Samuel 24:24: “I will not give unto the Lord that which has cost me nothing.”
I love that verse because it reminds me that Jesus is worthy of whatever it costs me. It cost Him everything to redeem me. I wonder if he was thinking of that verse too when he wrote the second verse in It is Well with My Soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
Horatio in his darkest hour never lost sight that Jesus shed his precious blood for his sin. Because of that, no sacrifice was too little for Jesus.
His daughter, Bertha, describes what her father felt as he looked down at the spot where his daughters died.
“This was a passing through the valley of the shadow of death,” but his faith came through triumphant and strong. On the high seas, near the place where his children perished, he wrote the hymn that was to give comfort to many.”
Afterward, Horatio wrote his sister a letter that expressed his love for his children and his faith in Jesus.
On Thursday last we passed over the spot where she went down, in mid-ocean, the water three miles deep. But I do not think of our dear ones there. They are safe, folded, the dear lambs, and there, before very long, shall we be too. In the meantime, thanks to God, we have an opportunity to serve and praise Him for His love and mercy to us and ours. “I will praise Him while I have my being.” May we each one arise, leave all, and follow Him.
I have sung his hymn probably at least 100 times but until now I barely notice the gratitude and praise he offers up to Jesus in it. Reading about what he actually was thinking and feeling made me see it.
My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
I wonder if he was thinking about what Job said. Though He slay me, yet will I praise Him. Because like Job, Horatio chose to praise God when he had lost all of his children.
Anna’s faith
Last time, I briefly shared how God spoke to Anna, telling her that she had been saved for a purpose but I want to share Bertha’s account because it gives context to her words. Bertha in her book shared what her mother said about her experience after she was rescued from the sea.
“…when she came back to consciousness in the boat and knew she had been recalled to life, that her first realization was complete despair. How could she face life without her children? Horrible as was her physical suffering, her mental anguish was worse. Her life had been bound up in her little girls. What was life worth now, and what could it ever be without them? Then, she told me [Bertha], it was as if a voice spoke to her. “You are spared for a purpose. You have work to do.”
In that moment of returning consciousness, she lifted her soul to God in an agony of despair and humbly dedicated her life to His service.
Anna told Bertha that she also remembered something her Aunty Sims told her long ago when her life was full with four beautiful daughters, a loving husband and a lovely home.
“It’s easy to be grateful and good when you have so much, but take care that you are not a fair-weather friend to God!”
That phrase became embedded in her mind after the shipwreck and she would say to herself from time to time, “I won’t be a fair-weather friend to God. I will trust Him, and someday I’ll understand.”
Even before she reached Wales, Anna said something similar to Pastor Weiss, a fellow passenger and friend.
“God gave me four little daughters. Now they have been taken from me. Someday I will understand why.”
When I read that, I thought how easy it is to see that truth in others’ lives. Spaffords are a perfect example of that. We know God used their tragedy to give the world an amazing hymn. We all know of someone, often ourselves, who has been comforted by his hymn. His daughter Bertha witnessed over and over again how it brought comfort to people.
Yet, we fail to see it in our own lives. Mea culpa. We, and by we, I mean me, need to follow the Spaffords’ example and leave our lives in Jesus’ hands. Is that hard? Yes, it is but that’s why God left us a record of their testimony. Through their real-life story, we can see that God stood with them through it all, using their tragedies for His glory. They not only are a role model for us but they strengthen our faith. They show us that Jesus is trustworthy. Stories like theirs are the very reason that I love to read history.
God uses D. L. Moody to find their way after the loss of their four daughters.
Moody feared that their sorrow could overwhelm them when they returned to their empty home. He urged Anna not to remain at home where every room would remind her of her daughters. He told Anna.
“Annie, you must go into my work.” You must be so busy helping those who have gone into the depths of despair that you will overcome your own affliction by bringing comfort and salvation to others.”
What he said reminded me of 2 Corinthians 1:3-4:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
That verse has helped me deal with the trials in my life. We moved around a lot to parts of the country unfamiliar to me. It was very lonely because I knew no one. Years later I remember asking the Lord why it had to be so hard. He told me, “I made it hard so you would not forget. If it was easy, you would not remember and would not comfort others.”
Anna saw the wisdom in Moody’s words and took his advice. Initially, he put her in charge of his rapidly expanding aid program but her heart wasn’t in leadership. She preferred working directly with people. Thankfully, she found someone to hand the reins over to. What she learned through this ministry would prove beneficial to their work in Jerusalem and to Bertha years later when she organized relief efforts in Jerusalem.
What motivated Horatio to go to Jerusalem
While it’s true they felt called to go to Jerusalem, Horatio had personal reasons which he explained in a letter to a friend:
“Jerusalem is where my Lord lived, suffered, and conquered, and I wish to learn how to live, suffer, and especially to conquer.”
Then they were asked to leave their church, the Fullerton Avenue Presbyterian Church, which Horatio had helped build. He had also served as an elder and his children had been baptized there. In recounting the story, Bertha believed that her father hoped:
“…the sojourn to Jerusalem and the Holy Land would help! Perhaps there, where the ‘Man of Sorrows,’ acquainted with grief yet triumphant, had walked the shores of Galilee and the hills of Judea, His life and passion would be revealed in such a way that life would again bring consolation.”
In Jerusalem, Horatio would find consolation but he and his family would also experience more suffering and persecution. It started brewing after they left their church.
Not all who left the church with them and met in their home went to Jerusalem. Some stayed behind and a few had strange ideas. One couple whose baby died refused to bury him. The mother claimed she could raise him from the dead. The incident led to the group disbanding.
“…abuse always travels faster than praise, and a religious persecution had been started.”
Those who initially believed the mother’s claim realized they had fallen for a lie. According to Bertha, rather than admit they’d been duped, they blamed the Spaffords. The Spafford weren’t even there when it happened but already in Jerusalem!
The media got wind of it, reporting only one side of the story. Yes, reporters weren’t checking their facts back then either. Sadly, the story spread to both sides of the ocean for years! It grew wilder and wilder with time.
Out of that story grew another story. This story claimed the Spaffords went every afternoon to Mount Olive to wait for Jesus’ coming. While they waited for Him, they brewed tea for Him.
The truth? They had picnics there frequently. They made friends with some English people who ended up accompanying them frequently. Anna began bringing a tea basket, an English tradition, for their English friends. People ignored the truth and repeated the fable.
How long did it go on? Until Bertha grrew up. As an adult, Bertha met a lady who asked her if she knew the story about the Americans who went to the Mount of Olives and made tea to give Jesus at His second coming. Bertha told her she had never heard of any such group. To which the lady replied, Oh, don’t spoil a good story; I have often told it.”
Apparently she continued to tell Bertha the story. Unbelievable!. But this is what they faced. Sadly, these stories weren’t the only trial they endured.
When they arrived in Jerusalem, one of the women from the English Mission, Miss Brooks, decided to leave her Mission and join the Spaffords. Upset with her leaving, one of the mission’s leaders spread a rumor claiming that the American Colony had somehow swayed her into joining them.
Horatio and Miss Brooks met with one of the leaders and attempted to set the record straight. The man would have none of it. Instead, he declared, “He would say this house was a house of devils as long as he had breath and strength.”
A few other missionaries who resented them as well but thankfully for the most part they got along with the missionaries there. Still, their attitude towards her parents affected Bertha.
Had these few been the only ones harassing them it might have been less hurtful. Unfortunately, the American Consul, Selah Merrill opposed them. What did he do? I don’t even know where to begin. Suffice it to say that he used every opportunity hinder their work and slander them both in Jerusalem and in his reports back to the states.
Bertha spoke about how all this persecution affected her personally.
Sometimes it seemed to me, in my younger days, that a complete circle of opposition had surrounded us, starting with the Lake View group as originators, following by the antagonist missionaries, and completed by the Mr. Selah, whose resentment of Father and the American Colony tormented us for eighteen years.
18 years! They would receive some vindication when Bertha was 17. Still, I can’t imagine staying in Jerusalem under those circumstances. I would have seen the circle of persecution as a “sign” to leave. Not the Spaffords. Even Bertha who had been stigmatized by the persecution carried on long after her parents’ deaths. Why? Jesus.
In her book, Bertha recalled a sermon she heard on John 11:25.
I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall he live.
At one point, the preacher reminded everyone that one day “We shall see Him face to face.” When he said that, Bertha remembered what her mother said to her as her father lay dying of malaria in 1888.
“He (meaning Horatio) knows it all now,” she said. “He has seen Him face to face.” We must not sorrow as those who have no hope.”
As she recalled these words, she thought back over her life and realized how her mother had given her and her sister Grace a godly and eternal perspective on life. Anna took all her sufferings and persecution in stride without complaining even when Horatio died.
Bertha was only ten at the time but she remembered how her mother determined to be “no fair weathered friend to Jesus, ” chosing instead to praise Jesus when He took Horatio, her husband and dearest friend, home to Himself.
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,
That verse refers to the people named in Hebrews 11. We refer to them typically as heroes of the faith. How does God refer to them? He calls them witnesses because they testify of God’s faithfulness through sufferings, trials and persecution. God points back to them in Hebrews 12, urging us to follow their example. However, those names in Hebrews 11 aren’t the only ones who testify of God faithfulness.
And what more shall I say?... Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, [k]were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—
Throughout history countless others have suffered for Jesus’ name, including the Spaffords. Like those mentioned in Hebrews 11, those witness speaks to us as well, especially Anna’s. Her living faith gave Bertha the perspective and strength to look beyond the circle of persecution and suffering and continue her parents’ work.
“This is my story, this is my song.”
What would the Spaffords say to us? Like those witnesses who came before them, they would tell us that their story is His story. “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” Therefore, we should keep looking to “ Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith because one day soon our earthly story will end and “we shall see Him face to face” and “one glimpse of his dear face, all sorrow will erase.”
Yes, it will be worth it all when we see Jesus.
[i] Vester, Bertha Spafford. Our Jerusalem. Read Books Ltd, 2011. All quotes and stories come from Bertha’s book.
Thanks so much for your great research and story! I too love His history in the lives of believers!