He lives, the great Redeemer lives

Some of the best hymns written of heavenly song have been penned by those who have suffered through physical illnesses or impediments. Such was the life of Miss Anne Steele the writer of this hymn who was an invalid and spent the greater part of her life in confinement to her room. She was born in 1716, at the village of Broughton in Hampshire, Where her father, a timber merchant, regularly officiated as pastor of a Baptist church.

Because Anne grew up in a spiritual atmosphere she very soon opened her heart to receive the Savior, and at the age of 14 she confessed her faith in Christ by being publicly baptized. Anne was gifted in the area of literature and began writing at an early age, but it was not until later in life that she could be convinced to publish her various compositions.

The mark of a tragic event, which happened when Anne was quite young, rarely left her, and at times revealed itself in the tone of her many sacred poems. Her betrothed, a young man of promising ability, was accidentally drowned while swimming, not long before the day arranged for the wedding; and the very time when the two should have been joined together as husband and wife, his lifeless body, which had been recovered from the river, was carried home. It was following this sad event that Anne wrote one of our sweetest Hymns:

When I survey lives varied scene,
Amid the darkest hours,
Sweet rays of comfort shine between,
And thorns are mixed with flowers.
Thy powerful Word supports my hope,
Sweet cordial to the mind,
And bears my fainting spirit up,
And bids me wait resigned.

She never fully recovered from the shock sustained by her great loss, which accentuated an already frail frame, brought about by a slight accident during her childhood, and for the remainder of her life was spent in retirement.

Miss Steel is said to be the first English woman who takes a permanent place among to hymn writers and has been referred to as the Frances Ridley Havergal of the 18 century. For more than 200 years her hymns have been used extensively, and a great many of them are still in use today. Anne Steel passed away in 1778, at the age of 61.

Am greatly blessed with your song.

God bless you.