Sometimes I struggle to know what to write, and so I have taken my time on this one. These past couple of weeks have been filled with news of people who are battling cancer, just got diagnosed with cancer, or facing surgery. I am again reminded that we live in a fallen world that has done something to our environment and/or genetics to cause such an epidemic. The heaviest story on my heart is a friend who is a single mom and has been told she has lung cancer.
This past Sunday we had a guest singer who sang the old, and beautiful, hymn, "It is Well With My Soul." It was the most amazing rendition I have ever heard, and there were few dry eyes in the church. As I was talking about it with my Bible Study Group, one of the members said she did not know the story behind the song. The story behind the song deepens your love of the words, because the song was written by a grief stricken father named Horatio Spafford. Here is his story:
This hymn was written after several traumatic events in Spafford’s life. The first was the death of his only son in 1871 at the age of four, shortly followed by the great Chicago Fire which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer). Then in 1873, he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the SS Ville du Havre, but sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sailing ship, the Loch Earn, and all four of Spafford's daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, "Saved alone." Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died.
It Is Well With My Soul
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
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, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
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!
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.
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.
And Lord, haste the day when my 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
This song is about faith in the midst of gut wrenching sorrow. There are many people out there that have this kind of sorrow going on in their lives. Sorrow over a future that has changed due to disease or divorce. Sorrow in losing a job, or a child that has strayed away. Sorrow in a circumstance that seems impossible to change.
If you can sing this song with full agreement of the words as they pertain to your sorrow, then you have a foundation of faith that can't be rocked by anything. It takes a lot to be able to sing those words in the midst of a crisis. Sometimes it is not well with our soul. Sometimes we want something to be different and the storm is too vicious, and the sorrow comes like sea billows that threaten to overtake us.
Spafford did not stop with the storm overtaking him, he keeps coming back to the Refrain of, "It is well with my soul." It takes deep faith and trust in God to say those words. But he knew the peace that came from God alone in that moment. God's ways are not always understandable and clear, but when we trust Him, we can be certain that He is working on our behalf and will carry our burden for us. Spafford's story goes on to tell of a life that was devoted to helping the poor in Jerusalem. He continued to live for Christ and held on to the promise that the day would come when the clouds would be rolled back like a scroll and the trumpet of victory would sound.
I pray that you can find peace like a river that only comes from Christ.
Blessings,
Sandy
