«May the grace of the Lord Jews Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all» (2 Corinthians 13:14)
Fanny Crosby became blind at six weeks of age. She began composing hymns when she was six years old. She signed up as a student at the Institute for the Blind at the age of 15, and at 22 she was already part of the faculty there. She loved literature and composed over eight thousand hymns, based on the inspiration of her faith.
One of the most popular hymns, «Blessed Assurance,» was written while Fanny was at the home of Phoebe Palmer Knapp, a friend who composed melodies. That time, Phoebe began playing the piano in her home and played a melody which Fanny immediately and simultaneously set words to. That was where the hymn was born.
It became tremendously popular and for several years was part of the repertoire of evangelistic crusades. It touched many hearts who identified themselves with the praise given to the Savior because we’re «Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood» and perfectly submit to Him with delight. Some ministers even used fragments of the hymn’s lyrics as titles for their sermons. And it’ s because Fanny wrote beautiful poetry about Christian beliefs.
Thanks to her extensive musical compositions, Fanny became very well-known and interacted with several presidents of the United States, and she even influenced their spiritual lives.
I don’t know what you usually do when you get together with your friends, or if music is part of the activities you carry out with them. We seldom realize the importance of spending our free time with people who will draw us closer to God and share our pastimes to glorify His name.
Ask God to help you have good friends and use your talents in a creative way while you ‘re with them today.
Find out what projects the local and worldwide church has to include the blind. Get involved in a ministry and look up stories of inspirational people who’ve used that setback as their greatest strength. They’re much closer than you imagine.
