Hope for Your Heart: Finding Strength in Life's Storms (26 page)

On November 23, 1892, D. L. Moody and his son Will boarded the ocean liner
Spree
at Southampton, England. Moody, Horatio Spafford’s admirer and supporter, had just finished speaking at meetings in London, and now he was bound for New York. Foremost in his mind, besides seeing his family and students again, was planning his next year’s great outreach campaign for the Chicago World’s Fair.

On the third morning of the trip, passengers were startled by a loud crash and a strong reverberation rumbling throughout the vessel. Young Will hurried onto the deck, then quickly returned, yelling, “Father, the ship’s sinking!” The shaft of the ship was broken.

The crippled ship, carrying hundreds of passengers, drifted helplessly away from the sea lanes. When the vessel began taking on too much water, its pumps were useless.

The crew prepared lifeboats and provisions but then began to fear that their small boats would capsize in the rough seas. So they gathered all the passengers into a main area and waited, hoping to be discovered by a passing ship.

On the second evening of their anguished wait, Moody led a prayer service that calmed many of the passengers, including himself. Although he was sure of heaven, thoughts of his life-changing work ending and of never seeing his family again had greatly unsettled him.

Prior to the trip, a doctor had found irregularities in Moody’s heart and urged him to ease his schedule or risk dying prematurely. As a result Moody had decided to slow down and scale back his plans to stage a large evangelistic event at the World’s Fair.

During the crisis at sea, however, Moody believed that God was confronting him to make a decision: Would he press on with all of his might to share the life-transforming message of Christ or would he allow fear to diminish his fervor?

Ultimately, he came to the conclusion,
If God chooses to spare my life,
I will work with all the power He gives me
. Realizing he might die before year’s end due to his heart condition, he nevertheless trusted his life to God’s care and persevered. Obviously, Moody knew and drew strength from the comforting Scripture, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
³

The following morning, the steamer
Lake Huron
discovered the stranded ship and towed it a thousand miles to safety. Moody pressed on with his World’s Fair campaign, investing six months of unceasing labor. Consequently, “millions . . . heard the simple gospel” with “thousands genuinely converted to Christ.” Moody did not die that year, nor the next, nor the next. His life was extended seven years after his perilous seafaring experience.
⁴

When our lives are placed in God’s hands . . . when our hope is in the reality of His promises and of His heaven . . . He will ignite our desire to shine the brightest light in this darkened world. Jesus said, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
⁵

None of us knows what each day will hold or how much time we have to live. As with Moody, any catastrophe could sweep across our lives at any moment. That prompts the questions: Am I completely available to God
now
? Am I letting His light shine through me
now
? Am I willing to persevere
now
?

Be assured, many will want the light of hope in their lives when they see the light of Christ shining through your life.

After Anna and Horatio returned to Chicago, just walking into their silent, empty home was heartrending—seeing the girls’ little shoes . . . looking at their familiar dresses. Although still awash in pain, Anna found some comfort by working with a program for needy women. Gradually, the darkness began to lift.

Horatio and Anna did have more children. Five years later Anna gave birth to a son, and two years afterward they were blessed with another daughter. But sadly, before their son’s fourth birthday he contracted scarlet fever and died. For Horatio and Anna, the loss felt almost unbearable. Years later, their daughter, Bertha, reported that she never once heard her mother speak of her brother’s death.

The pain of this loss was compounded by a crisis of faith. Were the children’s deaths a punishment from God? Did He no longer love them? Horatio felt himself in danger of losing his faith. A year after their son’s death, Anna gave birth to their last child, whom they named Grace—a gift from God following their tumultuous times of pain.

Around this time Horatio and Anna felt the need to sharpen their focus on things eternal, to refresh their walk with God, and to enrich their spiritual perspective concerning life’s circumstances. And what better place for that to occur than Jerusalem. Horatio explained, “Jerusalem is where my Lord lived, suffered, and conquered. I wish to learn how to live, suffer, and especially to conquer.”

Jesus met this couple at their deepest point of need. To all who are troubled He says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
⁶

With several friends who also sought solace and inspiration, the Spaffords left Chicago in 1881 and moved to the Holy City. In Jerusalem the group found an environment that fascinated and uplifted them. The Spaffords and their friends rented a large house together, and due to their kindness, curiosity, and respect they quickly made friends among their neighbors.

Their home became a meeting place for local people and out-of-town visitors from all backgrounds. Both the distinguished and the destitute found a welcome hand and heart. Sometimes the destitute also found a temporary home.

The Spafford home became a lighthouse, beaming out the love of Christ. Soon His light began to shine in those around them. Like ships lost at sea and in need of safe haven, people were drawn to the Spafford home to hear the comforting words of Christ and to experience the compassionate works of Christ.

Increasingly it became clear to Horatio and Anna that they would not be returning to Chicago. Their informal ministry grew in the years ahead, and services were offered to the community. In time a wide range of outreaches and programs were added.

As Horatio, Anna, and their friends served particularly in the areas of teaching and nursing, over time they became known as the “American Colony.”

The Spaffords lived out the rest of their lives in Jerusalem, continuing to serve the Lord and others. Horatio died in 1888, and Anna in 1923.

Amazingly, the comprehensive outreach initiative started by this couple still exists today but in a different form and scope. The Spafford Children’s Center serves many thousands of families in Arab East Jerusalem and the West Bank, providing medical care for children from disadvantaged families. The center has also added educational, cultural, and social programs for children and their mothers.

Arriving in Jerusalem in 1881, after enduring horrific trials that battered them like hurricane-force winds, Horatio and Anna Spafford could never have envisioned the children’s center that now operates in their former home.

Yet their resolute hope in the promises of God, even when tremendous storms had swept over their lives, opened the way for the center’s existence and birthed a spiritual legacy that has been passed down through generations.

Countless thousands have been helped and countless more have experienced changed lives and the peace of Christ because Horatio and Anna refused to abandon their hope.
⁷

Horatio Spafford and D. L. Moody refused to give up hope
in
Christ, and that led to millions of people being impacted
for
Christ.

How did these men of faith keep their hope in Jesus when their lives were battered by the stormiest seas? How did they continue to stay afloat amidst the torrents of trouble?

The answer is tucked away within the pages of the book of Isaiah and particularly within one passage that today can serve as our storm shelter. When the alarm sounds—“Warning! A hurricane is about to hit your life”—take refuge in these words about the Lord:

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. (Isa. 26:3–4 esv)

I believe the Spaffords and Moody certainly experienced doubts in their most dire circumstances,
but they didn’t stay stuck there
, like a ship run aground. Their initial emotions must have churned as catastrophic events crashed down upon them,
but then they turned their
minds elsewhere
. And when they looked up, focusing on the One who is sovereign over every storm, they not only found peace—they found “
perfect peace
.”

Have hope to have perfect peace.
What is perfect peace? A resolute hope rooted in the total trustworthiness of our living Savior. Those who experience perfect peace know unequivocally that there are no happenstance happenings in life apart from God’s presence. God is unfolding His precise plan. Even in the pain there is purpose.

“Trust in the L
ord
forever.” Note that word “forever.” No matter how high the tides rise or how strong the waves break, never give up on God . . . trust in Him forever. If Horatio and Anna Spafford had given up, there would never have been a Spafford Children’s Center.

Don’t focus on your circumstances.
Why focus on God, not on our circumstances? Because circumstances ebb and flow—they are always changing, unpredictable, and undependable. But in the middle of those circumstances is a Rock—our immovable, unshakable, and invincible God.

Are you in need of
perfect peace
? Is your mind swirling like an unsettled sea? Or is it steadied . . . anchored in the love and sovereignty of Christ? When you need perfect peace, turn to Isaiah 26:3–4 and consider it your storm shelter, your safe haven of hope in the most severe storms.

Hope is something we all want . . . and something we all need. But what exactly is it? It’s not peace, but it certainly produces peace.

For sure, it is something priceless. You can’t buy it, earn it, or win it. You can’t cause it or create it. Everyone in the world wants it, but too few have it.

The bottom line is this: Everyone wants
an anchored life
, and when you have hope, you have an anchored life. But how do you get it?

Do you realize that when you have “Christ in you, the hope of glory,”
⁸
that is the start of having an anchored life? Very simply, when you give Christ control of your life, He becomes your Anchor. Then, with Christ in control as your Anchor, you will have an anchored life!

How extraordinary! Always hang on to this hope: When you have Christ in you, you receive boththe Anchor and the anchored life. That makes you doubly blessed . . . and doubly secure.

Now that has to give you
hope for your heart
!

What is unique about biblical hope? We’ve learned that this kind of hope is an undergirding force grounded in the very promises of God—guaranteed by the assurances of God.

Hundreds of classic hymns contain lines, verses, and choruses describing Jesus as our Anchor, our hope, our stay, including the hymn “In Times Like These.”
^a
There isn’t a song I’ve enjoyed singing more before audiences than “In Times Like These” because it establishes what our ultimate priorities need to be in life. This song says it all (and it’s simply beautiful!).

Read the lines slowly and take to heart these hope-filled truths.

In times like these you need a Savior,

In times like these you need an anchor;

Be very sure, be very sure

Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

In times like these, you need the Bible,

In times like these, O be not idle.

Be very sure, be very sure

Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

This rock is Jesus, yes, He’s the One;

This Rock is Jesus, the only One.

Be very sure, be very sure

Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
¹

In times like these we do have an Anchor securing us through the storms. His holding power is certain.

Rest in Him today, assured that your hope—placed in God—will never disappoint . . . will always hold . . . will anchor your life for all eternity.

^a
To hear “In Times Like These,” “It Is Well with My Soul,” and other favorite hymns recorded by June Hunt on the music CD
Hymns of Hope
, visit
www.hopefortheheart.org/hymns
.