This beautiful book is a compilation of 366 devotions from 21 centuries of the Christian church, each day a short sketch of the life of a woman of faith.
The author, Diana Lynn Severance is a Director of the Dunham Bible Museum at Houston Baptist University, and has broad experience teaching history in universities and seminaries.
From the early female martyrs who perished for their faith at the stake or through drowning, this was an important education in church history, when Protestant women suffered for their faith, both in kings’ courts as well as in village squares.
It was humbling and inspiring to read of sisters who had gone through so much, and never once wavering for their faith. So many Victorian Christian women in the 1800s were ground-breaking missionaries in Africa, Asia and to the native American Indians, both singly or with their husbands.
The book also told of the lives of African slaves who were freed and who went on to do great things for Christ, of the first Christian Chinese female doctor, of American Indians who were instrumental in bringing light to their communities, as well as women who served alongside their pastor-husbands, to the extent of being jailed till their deaths.
What I found most instructive and interesting were the thumbnail biographies of song-writers. Who knew that so many hymns were penned by women, and so often borne out of severe trial and tribulation?
The tragedies these women endured are unthinkable today – losing one or more children in their infancy or childhood seemed to happen to almost all of them, and the women themselves perishing of incurable illnesses at home or on the mission field before they turned 50 was just as common.
I hadn’t known that there was no cure for leprosy till the early 1900s.
Here are some excerpts from the book to share.
“Just as I am” was written by Charlotte Elliott (1789-1871) who was an invalid for years. Bedridden and in pain, she often became despondent, overcome by feelings of uselessness. One day Charlotte’s doctor brought her a tract with this hymn, not realising she was the author!
The page below tells of Charitie Bancroft’s life, and how virtually every line in the hymn she wrote – “Before the throne of God above” – has an exact scriptural reference.
Other songs and the amazing testimonies of their authors include:
- “Jesus Loves Me” was written by Anna Warner (1827-1915), whose mother died a year after she was born. To help with the family finances during a financial depression, Anna and her sister wrote children’s books and the poem which later became a world famous song that many missionaries used to reach the lost.
- “Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus” was written by Louisa M.R. Stead (1850-1917) after she and her own four year old girl witnessed her husband’s death whilst trying to save a four-year old boy from drowning. She and her daughter became missionaries in Rhodesia.
- “Lead me to Calvary’ was written by Jennie Hussey (1874-1958) who devoted her life to caring for an invalid sister whilst battling crippling arthritis herself.
- “Take my life and let it be” was written by Frances Ridley Havergal (whose devotional one of my girls is reading now) (1836-1879) who was a pianist with a lyrical voice. Also fluent in German, French, Greek, Hebrew and Latin, she chose to use her talents for Jesus instead of pursuing worldly acclaim.
- “I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold” was written by Rhea Miller (1894-1966) based on her father’s testimony after coming to Christ as a reformed alcoholic that he would rather have Jesus than all the gold and silver in the world or all the lands and houses that money could buy. This song was later sung at Billy Graham’s crusades for some 66 years.
All this just brought to mind again, the amazing power of the written word, and the might of theologically rich and encouraging lyrics/poems set to song.
These women have long passed into glory, but their words, borne out of extremely difficult circumstances, live on as we sing them in praise and mutual edification.
Glory be to God for the witness of such faithful ones, and for this compilation of 366 edifying stories, that spur us to live each day for Christ.
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