Wealthy lawyer Horatio Spafford loved Jesus and was committed to him. He was a Christian and model businessman who lived what he believed in his everyday life. He was the kind of man you would expect God to richly reward for his faithfulness and his generosity. But in the 1870s, things started going badly.
Spafford's four-year-old son lost a battle with scarlet fever just about the same time the the Great Chicago Fire destroyed most of his real-estate investments.
Because of the sudden turmoil brought on by these double tragedies, he decided to take his wife and four daughters on a vacation to England. He knew that the whole family needed some space to recover from the loss of his son and part of his fortune. He booked passage on the Ville du Havre to take him and his family to Europe for their much-needed holiday.
Just before the vessel was to depart, Spafford got word of an urgent business matter that needed his immediate attention. Rather than spoil his family's vacation, he opted to send his wife and four daughters ahead on the ship to England while he traveled back to Chicago to take care of business. As soon as the crisis was evaded, he planned to make his way back to the coast and board the next available ship to England.
One week later, while Spafford was still in Chicago and his wife was in Wales, he received an unusual telegram. The words caused a flood of grief to come over him, even worse than the grief of losing his lifelong investments and his four-year-old son. His wife had sent six simple words: "Saved alone. What shall I do?"
Horatio Spafford must have felt as if his heart stopped beating.
His wife was one of the few survivors of a collision between the Ville du Havre and the Loch Earn. The Ville du Havre sunk in only 12 minutes. The ocean crash claimed the lives of their four daughters and 222 others. Mrs. Spafford survived only because her unconscious body somehow landed on a buoyant slab of wood. Her final memory was of a wave crashing up over her and overpowering her grip on one of her young daughters.
In a few sweeping moments, Spafford had lost all five of his children and much of his fortune. He immediately left for Europe. While en route to Wales, the captain notified him when the ship was near the place where his four daughters had perished. He later recounted the moment...
I was deeply agitated... but I could not (tell myself) my four little girls (were) buried there at the bottom of the ocean. Involuntarily, I lifted my eyes to heaven. Yes, I am sure they are there-on high- and happier are than if they were still with me. So convinced am I of this that I would not (want), for the whole world, that one of my children should be given back to me.
During this difficult season of Horatio Spafford's life, he wrote the humn, "It Is Well with My Soul."
*Honestly by Johnnie Moore
Spafford's four-year-old son lost a battle with scarlet fever just about the same time the the Great Chicago Fire destroyed most of his real-estate investments.
Because of the sudden turmoil brought on by these double tragedies, he decided to take his wife and four daughters on a vacation to England. He knew that the whole family needed some space to recover from the loss of his son and part of his fortune. He booked passage on the Ville du Havre to take him and his family to Europe for their much-needed holiday.
Just before the vessel was to depart, Spafford got word of an urgent business matter that needed his immediate attention. Rather than spoil his family's vacation, he opted to send his wife and four daughters ahead on the ship to England while he traveled back to Chicago to take care of business. As soon as the crisis was evaded, he planned to make his way back to the coast and board the next available ship to England.
One week later, while Spafford was still in Chicago and his wife was in Wales, he received an unusual telegram. The words caused a flood of grief to come over him, even worse than the grief of losing his lifelong investments and his four-year-old son. His wife had sent six simple words: "Saved alone. What shall I do?"
Horatio Spafford must have felt as if his heart stopped beating.
His wife was one of the few survivors of a collision between the Ville du Havre and the Loch Earn. The Ville du Havre sunk in only 12 minutes. The ocean crash claimed the lives of their four daughters and 222 others. Mrs. Spafford survived only because her unconscious body somehow landed on a buoyant slab of wood. Her final memory was of a wave crashing up over her and overpowering her grip on one of her young daughters.
In a few sweeping moments, Spafford had lost all five of his children and much of his fortune. He immediately left for Europe. While en route to Wales, the captain notified him when the ship was near the place where his four daughters had perished. He later recounted the moment...
I was deeply agitated... but I could not (tell myself) my four little girls (were) buried there at the bottom of the ocean. Involuntarily, I lifted my eyes to heaven. Yes, I am sure they are there-on high- and happier are than if they were still with me. So convinced am I of this that I would not (want), for the whole world, that one of my children should be given back to me.
During this difficult season of Horatio Spafford's life, he wrote the humn, "It Is Well with My Soul."
*Honestly by Johnnie Moore
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