JUNE 25

Note: My symptoms are a lot right now, so this month is going to be a bit shorter.  I pray God would use this post to springboard you into His Word and a time with Him.

It Is Well with My Soul

Horatio G. Spafford, 1873

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

1. When sorrows like sea billows roll;
   Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
   It is well, it is well with my soul.
   • Refrain:
     It is well with my soul,
     It is well, it is well with my soul.
2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
   Let this blest assurance control,
   That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
   And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
3. My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
   My sin, not in part but the whole,
   Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
   Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
4. For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
   If Jordan above me shall roll,
   No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
   Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
5. But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
   The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
   Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
   Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
6. And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
   The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
   The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
   Even so, it is well with my soul.

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Church history writes Spafford's life to be a tragic one.  Similar to Job in the Old Testament Spafford seemingly lost everything and wrote this hymn in the midst of tragedy.  Spafford and his wife lost their son to illness right before the great Chicago Fire which destroyed the family financially.   Later on, Spafford's wife and remaining four daughters boarded a ship called S.S. Ville du Havre.  Last minute business affairs kept Spafford in Chicago for a few more days.  He planned to follow on another ship.  Sadly, the Ville du Havre collided with another ship on its journey and sank within 12 minutes.  His wife survived, but his daughters did not.  His wife wired him a message saying "Saved alone.  What shall I do?"  Spafford quickly boarded a ship to go to his grieving wife.  The story goes that the captain told Spafford when they were sailing over the part of the Atlantic that had killed his four daughters.  It was there that these words came to him:

"When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul."

I must confess I've wondered if the story behind this 152 year old hymn is true.  It seems too overwhelming to be possible.  It feels too tragic to be real, and yet it is real.  How could you go to the waters that swallowed up not one, not two, but FOUR of your most precious children and still say "it is well with my soul?"  He didn't even get to bury them.  They were gone and that was it.  All of this after losing his son to illness and nearly all his possessions in the fire?  And still he wrote "whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul."

It seems impossible.  

It feels impossible.  

There was a season in my life when I could not sing this song.  Life felt too hard and too overwhelming.  I was believing my feelings instead of His Word.  I was looking at my circumstances instead of my Savior.  I think that was Spafford's "secret."  That must have been how he wrote these words in the midst of so much sorrow.

Corinthians 3:

Immediately after this we get 2 Corinthians 4...

(16) So we do not lose heart...Jesus is the only way I know how to take heart.  He is the only one that can sustain us through our darkest days.  He loves you wherever you are, whatever you're facing...He hasn't left. He is strong enough to hold you in His arms, when you are fighting to take that next breath.  His arms are strong enough to hold you.  He wants you to invite Him in to whatever pain you may be carrying.  It's not too much for Him.  

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said, "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Original Lyrics:

 

Alternate Lyrics: