“When peace like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrow like sea
billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is
well, with my soul.” Horatio Spafford, ‘It Is Well with
My Soul”
This is no doubt one of the most powerful songs to
be sung because it was penned from a brokenhearted father who overlooked the 4
watery graves of his daughters. Horatio
Spafford stayed behind for business reasons back in 1873, while his wife and 4
daughters made a voyage to England. He
would join them after his business obligations had been fulfilled. Their ship collided with another in the
Atlantic where his daughters lost their lives.
He received a telegram from his wife that simply said, ‘Survived alone.’
“When Horatio Spafford sailed past the very spot on the Atlantic where his four
baby girls sank into the depths, he grieved the passing away of things he knew
were temporary. Then he offered up these
words of worship to the God who never moved, who presides over the sorrows and
the seas.” She Reads Truth, p. 160. I can’t even imagine how he could sing these
words, and I can’t even imagine how powerfully precious they were to the ears
of God.
Because we live in a broken world, we all experience
deep suffering from losses that are forced upon us. There will times when our lives are as peaceful
as rivers, and then there are those times when mounting billows roll. These are times when we have to force
ourselves to let go and accept the circumstances that have crashed over our
lives. We are forced to wave goodbye to
the temporary. Horatio learned that through
sorrows God taught him how to embrace the sorrowful times along with the joyful
ones, and the difficult times with the peaceful times. He taught this man that life will be an ebb
and flow journey, and that God will always provide what is needed. God wants our lives to be lived in complete
trust during our temporary time on earth.
He desires that whatever comes our way in this broken world be well in
our soul because we choose to hang on to the Permanent. The key word in this song
is ‘taught’. The only way I can say my challenging
seasons are well with my soul is to have a teachable heart. I must offer my suffering up to Him if I wish
for things to ever be well in my soul again.
When we close our hearts to God’s grace and comfort, we close our hearts
to healing. Without a teachable heart,
nothing life sends our way will be ‘well with our soul.’
With Thanksgiving upon us, I want to rejoice that
it is well with my soul because this is not my home. I want to sing with celebration that it is
well with my soul because I will see all my loved ones again one day. I thank God for my soul being well because of
all the blessings in which I walk. I want
my heart to be confident that whatever future is up ahead, it will be well with
my soul because God holds my entire future.
Happy Thanksgiving and may it all be well with your
soul because of the permanent love of God.
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