Susanna Wesley

May 17, 2026

Making Time for God in Chaos. Busy seasons can quietly push prayer and time with God to the side. Through fire, hardship, and the demands of family life, Susanna Wesley showed what it means to stay rooted in faith no matter the pressure. This episode explores spiritual discipline, trusting God in crisis, and creating space to seek Him daily. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33 NIV)

Full Transcript 

Susanna Wesley loved God with all her heart. When she was younger, she made a vow that she would spend more time in prayer and Bible study than she would in leisure. As she grew older, she found her busy life as a pastor’s wife and mother made the vow harder and harder to keep. But no matter how busy her life became, she always made a way to spend time alone with God.  

She made a special place where the family would know not to disturb her time with God unless it was an emergency. She went to her favorite chair, took one of her long aprons, and draped it over her head as she sat, forming a sort of tent around her. When her husband and children saw the apron over her head, they knew she was spending time with God and not to interrupt. While in her makeshift tent, she prayed for her family and studied the Scriptures to know everything she could about God. This habit helped her faith stay strong. When hardships came, Susanna prayed. 

Through the Fire 

February 9, 1709. It started like any other night at the Epworth Rectory. Susanna Wesley and her family had retired for the night, everyone fast asleep in their beds. Being ill from pregnancy, Susanna had been sleeping alone, while her husband, Samuel, slept in another room. But in the middle of the night, at around 11:30, Susanna woke to chaos. 

The house had caught on fire. 

Susanna’s young daughter, Hetty, had woken to bits of flaming roof falling onto her bed. She scrambled out to find her father, Samuel, who hurried to find his wife and seven other children. Susanna didn’t have time to dress or to gather her things. The fire spread so quickly that nothing but a thin wall kept the raging inferno from swallowing up the staircase that led to the ground floor. Samuel told her to run for her life, and she ran to the staircase with two of her daughters, Sukey and Emilia, and met up with two of the servants.   

As they reached for the door that led to the yard, they found that it was locked. There was no getting out without a key, but no one knew where they were. Susanna watched as her husband ran back up the stairs—still safe from the fire thanks to the wall as he went to go and search for them. The fire spread with each ticking second, but Samuel found the keys, rushing down the stairs as the thatch roof caved in. The northeast wind whipped the fire into a blaze. Samuel hurried and unlocked the door leading to the street and rushed to the garden door to unlock it too, noticing the fire wasn’t as heavy near the garden door. He called everyone to follow him out, carrying Emilia and Sukey in his arms.   

But in the middle of the chaos, Susanna had gotten separated from her husband. She didn’t know they had made it to the garden door in the back. She was near the street door where the fire was more severe, and she knew she had to get out, or she’d burn to death. But the wind from outside was so strong that every time she tried to get out the door, the fires drove her back. She tried again to get out, but it was no use. The force of the flames was so strong that it knocked her to the ground. 

The smoke thickened, the flames burned hotter and hotter, and Susanna wondered if she and her unborn child were going to die. She didn’t want to leave her children without a mother and her husband without a wife. She had to escape. Surrounded by a vision of hell, she prayed to the God of heaven, asking for help to give her the strength to escape the inferno. 

She took the coat she had in her arm and wrapped it around her chest, and seeing the floor now on fire, she waded through flames toward the door once more. The fire wrapped around her legs, burning them and part of her face, but she made it to the door, and this time the winds did not drive her back. 

She made it outside to the yard. Alone, burned, with blackened lips and exhausted—but alive. 

For fifteen minutes she wondered if her husband and children made it out. She hadn’t seen any of them since the fire began, and no one in the neighborhood had come to check on her as she remained in the yard, watching her home burn to the ground. She couldn’t look up and didn’t speak until suddenly, she saw Samuel.  

All eight children were accounted for, including young John. Samuel hadn’t been able get to him, but John was miraculously saved by a few people who had gathered and made a human ladder to reach John, who had been crying for help. John jumped out of the window as his room was blazing, caught by his rescuers and carried to safety. 

Aside from some lumber below the stairs and a melted lump of silver, nothing was salvaged from the rectory. The cause of the fire remained unknown, though it was suspected to be arson. But despite losing everything she owned, Susanna and her family praised God that they all made it out alive. They were burned, but not broken, and thanked God for bringing them through the fire. 

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze” (Isaiah 43:2 NIV). 

Susanna Wesley loved God with all her heart. When she was younger, she made a vow that she would spend more time in prayer and Bible study than she would in leisure. As she grew older, she found her busy life as a pastor’s wife and mother made the vow harder and harder to keep. But no matter how busy her life became, she always made a way to spend time alone with God.  

She made a special place where the family would know not to disturb her time with God unless it was an emergency. She went to her favorite chair, took one of her long aprons, and draped it over her head as she sat, forming a sort of tent around her. When her husband and children saw the apron over her head, they knew she was spending time with God and not to interrupt. While in her makeshift tent, she prayed for her family and studied the Scriptures to know everything she could about God. This habit helped her faith stay strong. When hardships came, Susanna prayed. 

Through the Fire 

February 9, 1709. It started like any other night at the Epworth Rectory. Susanna Wesley and her family had retired for the night, everyone fast asleep in their beds. Being ill from pregnancy, Susanna had been sleeping alone, while her husband, Samuel, slept in another room. But in the middle of the night, at around 11:30, Susanna woke to chaos. 

The house had caught on fire. 

Susanna’s young daughter, Hetty, had woken to bits of flaming roof falling onto her bed. She scrambled out to find her father, Samuel, who hurried to find his wife and seven other children. Susanna didn’t have time to dress or to gather her things. The fire spread so quickly that nothing but a thin wall kept the raging inferno from swallowing up the staircase that led to the ground floor. Samuel told her to run for her life, and she ran to the staircase with two of her daughters, Sukey and Emilia, and met up with two of the servants.   

As they reached for the door that led to the yard, they found that it was locked. There was no getting out without a key, but no one knew where they were. Susanna watched as her husband ran back up the stairs—still safe from the fire thanks to the wall as he went to go and search for them. The fire spread with each ticking second, but Samuel found the keys, rushing down the stairs as the thatch roof caved in. The northeast wind whipped the fire into a blaze. Samuel hurried and unlocked the door leading to the street and rushed to the garden door to unlock it too, noticing the fire wasn’t as heavy near the garden door. He called everyone to follow him out, carrying Emilia and Sukey in his arms.   

But in the middle of the chaos, Susanna had gotten separated from her husband. She didn’t know they had made it to the garden door in the back. She was near the street door where the fire was more severe, and she knew she had to get out, or she’d burn to death. But the wind from outside was so strong that every time she tried to get out the door, the fires drove her back. She tried again to get out, but it was no use. The force of the flames was so strong that it knocked her to the ground. 

The smoke thickened, the flames burned hotter and hotter, and Susanna wondered if she and her unborn child were going to die. She didn’t want to leave her children without a mother and her husband without a wife. She had to escape. Surrounded by a vision of hell, she prayed to the God of heaven, asking for help to give her the strength to escape the inferno. 

She took the coat she had in her arm and wrapped it around her chest, and seeing the floor now on fire, she waded through flames toward the door once more. The fire wrapped around her legs, burning them and part of her face, but she made it to the door, and this time the winds did not drive her back. 

She made it outside to the yard. Alone, burned, with blackened lips and exhausted—but alive. 

For fifteen minutes she wondered if her husband and children made it out. She hadn’t seen any of them since the fire began, and no one in the neighborhood had come to check on her as she remained in the yard, watching her home burn to the ground. She couldn’t look up and didn’t speak until suddenly, she saw Samuel.  

All eight children were accounted for, including young John. Samuel hadn’t been able get to him, but John was miraculously saved by a few people who had gathered and made a human ladder to reach John, who had been crying for help. John jumped out of the window as his room was blazing, caught by his rescuers and carried to safety. 

Aside from some lumber below the stairs and a melted lump of silver, nothing was salvaged from the rectory. The cause of the fire remained unknown, though it was suspected to be arson. But despite losing everything she owned, Susanna and her family praised God that they all made it out alive. They were burned, but not broken, and thanked God for bringing them through the fire. 

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze” (Isaiah 43:2 NIV).