Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Fanny Crosby

Today, I was thinking about adversity. For some, it is a set-back. We rebel against the adversity, instead of using it for God’s good and glory.

An admirable woman who had the adversity of being blind, used it for good. She was born in 1820 to Puritan parents. She acquired an eye infection, which a doctor treated improperly, causing her to be blind. Shortly after, her father died. Her mother was a widow at the age of 21. Frances Jane van Alystyne stayed with her grandmother while her mother worked. Many people were instrumental in helping Fanny. Her story can be found here:

http://www.eaec.org/faithhallfame/fanny_crosby.htmFrances Jane van Alystyne

This is an excerpt from her story found on the Faith’s Hall of Fame website:

A landlady of the Crosby’s also had an important role in Fanny’s development. Mrs. Hawley helped Fanny memorize the Bible, and often the young girl learned five chapters a week. She knew the Pentateuch, the Gospels, Proverbs, the Song of Solomon, and many of the Psalms by heart. She developed a memory which often amazed her friends, but Fanny believed she was no different from others. Her blindness had simply forced her to develop her memory and her powers of concentration more. Blindness never produced self-pity in Fanny and she did not look on her blindness as a terrible thing. At eight years old she composed this little verse:

Oh, what a happy child I am, although I cannot see!
I am resolved that in this world contented I will be!
How many blessings I enjoy that other people don’t!
So weep or sigh because I’m blind, I cannot – nor I won’t.

It is a pretty amazing thing for an eight-year-old to be content in the circumstance of being blind. She made a physical, mental, and spiritual choice to see her blessings instead of her blindness.

Fanny went on to write many songs that are still sung today. They are inspirational songs that lead people to know Christ better: Blessed Assurance, To God Be the Glory, All the Way My Savior Leads Me, and many more.

Romans 8 :²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Thank you, Lord, that You can even use the bad things in our life for Your good and glory. Help me to see my trials as stepping stones, instead of an escalator going backwards. You discipline those that You love, and sometimes, bad things happen, and we experience tribulation. Help me to be still, and know that You are God. In Jesus Name, Amen.

-Dawn-