It is well

Good morning! I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

This morning I woke up with a song playing over and over deep within me. The song is actually on old hymn entitled “It is Well With My Soul.” The words were written by Horatio Spafford in 1873. Spafford was a wealthy American businessman who went through a series of devastating events. In 1871 Spafford was financially ruined by the devastation of the great Chicago fire. Within a few months Spafford’s family was crossing the Atlantic when their ship collided with another vessel. Spafford’s wife survived, but his four daughters perished.

It was only a few weeks later, as Spafford’s own voyage across the Atlantic neared the spot where his daughters had died that Spafford was given these words:

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.

Refrain

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

So how does a man like Horatio Spafford come away with the strength to say “it is well with my soul?” Look at the following promise from scripture:

Psalm 34:17-18 (HCSB)
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He saves those crushed in spirit.

You see Spafford realized that God was much bigger than fortune, life or even death. Spafford knew that his current lot in life was not the end of the story. His soul could rejoice, because eternity was before him. There would come a day when money would no longer be needed and death would no longer separate him from his loved ones. All was well with his soul, because he walked day by day with God, the one who transcends time and place.

Today, you may be facing peace like a river or perhaps it is the sea billows of life. So I ask you the question: “Is it well with your soul?”

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours today.

Carl