The Supremacy of God over Disabilities in the Life of Fanny Crosby

Scripture Texts:  John 9:1-5

Introduction.

You know my custom of using these occasions out on the lawn to reflect on some of the great hymns and songs God has given us to worship Him, and the people behind them.  I didn’t do it last year because some guy named Zac Harrison was preaching.

This evening I want to reflect of “Hymns by Hers.”  Ever since Moses’ sister Miriam sang to the Lord after the great exodus across the Red Sea, women have been writing and singing hymns to the Lord.  After her came Deborah, Hannah, and Mary’s “Magnificat.”

Since then countless women have joined men in taking to heart Paul’s admonition in Ephesians:

Ephesians 5:18-19 … be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,

Our hymnals are filled with hymns written by women whose lives demonstrated great faith in a God who comforted, sustained, and cherished them.

The first hymn we sang this evening, “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know” was written by Anna Bartlett Warner (1824-1915) in 1859.

The Church today would be immeasurably poorer had women failed to make use of their God-given gifts to enhance our worship.

I want to focus on just one woman this evening, one of the most prolific hymn writers in all of history.  The story of Fanny Crosby is a remarkable story of faith, faithfulness and courage in the face of her blindness.

To tell her story I start with John’s Gospel.