I recently read a short biography by Warren Wiersbe about an amazing woman named Fanny Crosby. You may know of her as the writer of some of your favorite hymns such as Blessed Assurance, He Hideth My Soul, and All the Way, My Savior Leads Me. But there are a few other things you should know about her that will help you grow in appreciation for her.1. She was blind from the age of six months. As a baby, Fanny Crosby developed inflammation around her eyes. Due to carelessness by the doctor, who could never forgive himself, she was left blind after treatment. However, as she got older, she never grew disheartened by her disability. In fact, she saw it as a gift from God that would help her to serve him. Essentially, because she was blind, she could see things other people couldn't. At just eight years old she wrote her first hymn saying,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, or I won't! Further, she had no ill-will toward the doctor who blinded her. In fact she said later in life, "If I could meet him now, I would say 'Thank you, thank you'-over and over again-for making me blind." For "I could not have written thousands of hymns if I had been hindered by the distractions of seeing all the interesting and beautiful objects that would have been presented to my notice."2. She received a timely lesson of humility. As a teenager, Fanny became known and praised in both her school for the blind and community for her poetry. Worried that the praise would go to her head, the superintendent of the school called her into his office and "gently warned her to beware of pride." He encouraged her to use her gift to glorify God rather than herself. Many of us would be insulted or discouraged by this kind of frank counsel, but she later admitted, "His words were bombshells, but they did me an immense amount of good." If only we were all as open to advise and critique as Fanny Crosby was at such a young age!3. She wrote about seeing Christ. Many of Crosby's over 8,000 hymns include references to seeing her Savior. Warren Wiersbe notes that the best know reference appears in the chorus of her hymn Saved by Grace, which says,And I shall see Him face to face, And tell the story-Saved by grace.
