Starting Right is a 5 minute Day Starter to help keep you motivated, encouraged, and focused throughout your day. DannyMac is a pastor, teacher, motivational speaker, husband, and father. His years of leading and training people have given him vast experience in helping individuals to accomplish change in their lives and meet their goals. He can help you set the course for your day by offering practical advice from God's Word in a positive and fun way. There is no better way to begin your day than by Starting Right with DannyMac.
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A single line can carry a whole ocean of grief: “Saved alone. What shall I do?” Danny Mac shares the true story of Horatio Gates Spafford, a successful Chicago lawyer whose life was first shaken by the Great Chicago Fire and then shattered by an unimaginable loss at sea. It’s the real history behind the hymn many of us have heard or sung, “It Is Well With My Soul,” and it’s far more raw and human than most people realize.
We walk through the decision that sent Spafford’s wife, Anna, and their four daughters across the Atlantic ahead of him, the sudden collision that sank the Ville du Havre in minutes, and the message Anna sent after surviving while their daughters did not. Then we sit with the moment Horatio is told his ship is passing the place where the wreck happened and what he does next: he writes words of comfort rooted in God, not in circumstances.
This is a short morning devotional built for real life, especially if you’re carrying depression, uncertainty, or anger that’s close to the surface. We reflect on Psalm 34:19 and reminder that God stays present through affliction and helps us endure what we cannot fix. If you need practical faith, grief support through Scripture, and a reminder that peace can exist inside a storm, press play, then subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with the line that spoke to you most.
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right. I am Danny Mack, and I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back and relax for the next five minutes as I help you start your day by starting right.
Most of you will probably not recognize the name Horatio Gates Spafford, but you may be familiar with his story, and you more likely will be familiar with the results of his story. Horatio was born in New York in 1828. He grew up to be a very successful lawyer in Chicago, where he had purchased large quantities of land. Then in 1871, the Great Chicago Fire burst out and destroyed large portions of the city of Chicago, including much of Horatio's holdings. The financial setback was devastating to him, and he spent the next two years trying to rebuild his holdings and his business. In November of eighteen seventy three, he decided
he needed to spend some time with his wife and his children, whom he had been neglecting for the last couple of years. So he decided to take them to Europe. Horatio was close to the evangelist D. L. Moody, and he decided that he wanted to visit their evangelistic meetings in England, and while they were there, they would enjoy some family vacation time. He loaded up his family and took them back to New York getting ready to board the ship. However, just before the sailing, Horatio was notified of a major problem back in Chicago that he had to deal with. He saw no reason to not allow his wife and daughters to head on over to England, and he would join them on the next ship. It would take him just a few days to deal with the problems. So on november twenty second, eighteen seventy three, Anna Spafford and the couple's four daughters and the children's governess, along with three hundred and seven other passengers, boarded the French steamship
Ville du Havre. At about two o'clock the next morning in the eastern North Atlantic, the Ville de Havre collided with the British ship Loch Ern. The Ville de Havre sank in just twelve minutes, and two hundred and twenty six people died, including the four Spafford daughters. While the Loch Urn was severely damaged as well, it was able to take on board about ninety of the survivors from the Ville de Havre. Amongst those survivors was Anna Spafford and the governess Emma LaReau. The following day, the U.S. ship Tremontane reached the scene, and the rescued Ville de Harve passengers were transferred from the Loch Ern to the Tremontane, which then carried them to Wales, landing in Cardiff. Once in Cardiff, Anna Spafford on December 1st, 1873, cabled her husband with the following message Saved alone. What shall I do? Horatio Spafford took the next available ship to join his wife. Part way through that voyage, the captain of the ship called Horatio to the bridge. Facing Horatio, he said, A careful reckoning has been made, and I believe we are now passing the place where the Ville du Havre was wrecked. The water here is three miles deep. That night
in his cabin, Horatio Spafford sat down and taking some note paper from the hotel he'd stayed in in New York, wrote a hymn declaring the comfort that he can only have from God in the middle of such a devastating situation. That hymn is it is well with my soul. Psalm 34 and 19 tells us that many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. The sense of loss that Horatio Spafford had was unimaginable. I can't even begin to comprehend what he was going through. But in the midst of all of that horrific loss, he was still able to turn his focus and say, God, I can trust you, and it is well with my soul.
There are many people right now who are just trying to cope with our current situation. They're fighting depression, they're fighting the uncertainty. And many people have anger hiding just below the surface. And it's just waiting to lash out to people around them, maybe even those that are the closest to them, and maybe you've experienced that. The truth is, just as Horatio learned it, God is still in control and we can still trust him. One of the great comforts we have as Christians is to know that God is constantly with us, that he is with us in all things at all times, in all ways. And though, as the scripture says, we will have many afflictions, the Lord will be with us in them all, and he will help to get us through.
So today let me leave you with the first verse of this hymn as your encouragement. When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot thou hast taught me to say, it is well. It is well with my soul. Have a great day, my friends. We'll talk again tomorrow. Thank you for listening today. And I invite you to join me Monday to Friday right here on Starting Right with Danny Mack.
