The Beautiful Life of Susannah Spurgeon
Recently, I have been reading a book about Susannah Spurgeon called Susie: The Life and Legacy of Susannah Spurgeon by Ray Rhodes Jr. I am actually surprised that it was written by a man since while reading it, it seemed like it was written by a feminist! He definitely has feminist leanings.
Susannah’s life was during Queen Victoria’s reign in the 1800s. She was raised in the Victorian era. The author points this out in a negative light because men were the ones in authority and women were demoted to only being wives, mothers, and homemakers, as if this were a bad thing. He made clear that this was before women had “rights” such as voting. It was before women suffrage.
If I had written this book, I would have written that Susannah was blessed to live in a time when men and women were living out biblical roles. The men were the ones in authority and the women were blessed to be protected and provided by men while they were at home caring for their husbands and children. Unfortunately, almost everyone today seems bit by the feminist agenda which is the opposite of God’s will for women.
Susie, as she was called, wasn’t raised as a believer but became a believer in her early 20s. She met Charles soon after this and he led her into a deeper relationship with the Lord by giving her the book Pilgrims Progress and by his preaching. Charles was known as a living Bible! “Prick him anywhere; his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his very soul is full of the Word of God.”
Oh, to be known as a living Bible and our soul being full of the Word of God! Does this describe you, women? We are told that God’s people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. Most Christians don’t read the Bible. They don’t know Truth and are easily swayed by the false teachings everywhere. Become a consistent Bible reader, women. Try to read at least a chapter a day. Meditate on what you read. Pray over it. Write it out and even memorize it. We are transformed by His Word because it is living and active!
Women have asked me how I study God’s Word. I read through the Old Testament some, but I mostly focus on the New since it was written for the Church age in which we live. I will read a Gospel and then read Romans through Revelation, a chapter or more a day. I also love Psalm and Proverbs. (I did just finish Isaiah and Jeremiah so I do read the OT. I just read the NT a lot more.) Everything we need for godliness is in His Word!
Here is what the author wrote about Susie as she was preparing to be Charles’ wife: “If Susie had ever entertained any independent aspirations for herself, by this time she had embraced Charles’ aims, plans, and work, and she found her joy in helping him.” This thought appalls most women today. “Give up my dreams for a man?” Yes, we were created to be our husband’s help meet. Susie found her joy in helping her husband. May we do likewise!
Charles was a very famous preacher who traveled and preached often. She knew this would be his life’s work and this is what she said about this. “It was ever the settled purpose of my married life that I should never hinder him in his work for the Lord, never try to keep him from fulfilling his engagements, never plead my own ill-health as a reason why he should remain at home with me.” She was a self-sacrificial wife to Charles.
Susie’s son wrote this about her. “She was a true helpmeet, is proved by my dear father’s repeated testimony to her worth, by word of mouth and by the fact that he set it down in black and white, again and again…She set herself to him like perfect music unto noble words.” What a wonderful example to all of us.
Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
Proverbs 31:10-12
7 thoughts on “The Beautiful Life of Susannah Spurgeon”
Excellent post, Abraham, imperfect man that he was, guilty of cowardice and lying, was called a friend of God, and was called “Lord” by Sarah.
A Godly woman builds her husband, children, and nation up, an ungodly woman tears her husband, children, and nation down.
What a divine marriage the Spurgeons must have enjoyed. Of course, back then, birth control, porn, abortion, and homosexuality were all illegal, and the vast majority of the population recognized that masturbation was a severe sin.
Over 90% of the population recognized that the sex drive was for marriage, to have as many children as a woman medically was capable of having, and that, contrary to today’s lying bankers media, children were a blessing, not a burden. The couples of long who recognized that children were not dependent on finances. They made the West great because they were selfless and never thought about if they could “afford” children. They had faith in God who made it very clear you cannot afford not to have children in marriage. Indeed, many of America’s problems are caused by not confining sex to heterosexual marriage, and the failure to have as many children as possible in marriage.
Also, this article was a great reminder to us men, about what we need to be before God, to ensure that we are the leaders, combining love and law, that God designed us to be.
I think a lot of women misunderstand what it means to stay home and be a help meet to a husband. My wife did not give up her dreams, that was her dream. She dreamed to be in a marriage that provided her security, where she could be involved in church activities during the week, where she could share Jesus with our children, and where she would have a sense of tremendous purpose.
I really loved this post. Thank you. Also, thanks for sharing how you read the Bible as I am feeling lost and a bit confused as I read through the OT. Your brief insight was helpful.
Kaysee, I understand your feelings of confusion as you’ve read through the OT. My pastor recommended to me the 2-volume abridged edition of the Expositor’s Bible Commentary. This has proved very helpful to me in “wading” through difficult parts of the OT. I’m very thankful for this commentary since there is so much richness to be gained in the OT, as God’s character is revealed in His great mercy, compassion, and love extended to the Israelites, as they so often rebelled against Him. I saw my own sin in the Israelites’ behavior and therefore appreciate all the more God’s same mercy, compassion, and love extended to me.
Oh thanks so much! I will order this.
In church yesterday we heard that we might be the only Bible that someone reads.
Sounds like Susannah was a great example.
What a great testimony! I am also a preachers wife, and before we were married I heard a story about a lady from our congregation who complained about not having enough help from her husband with their children. She said the elders always kept him busy, since he was in the ministry. Not soon after, her husband, a healthy man, died and to this day she is a widow.
My husband is often busy in the Lord’s work and I try to never complain about having too much work and being alone with the boys. I know that God will care for us and reward us for our sacrifices.