When It Is Not Well With My Soul
Today I want to introduce you to someone. This person is acquainted with grief. He knows what it is like to experience loss. He has been through it. Now I know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking I am going to talk about Jesus and will relate it back to having a savior who is intimately familiar with pain and gets what you are going through. Nope, although that is true and would be a good article.
Today I want to introduce you to Horatio Spafford. Horatio was a successful attorney and real estate investor who lost a fortune in the Chicago fire of 1871. Around the same time, his four year old son died of scarlet fever.
Horatio thought it would be good for his family to get away for a while so he sent his wife and four daughters on a ship to England, where he planned on joining them later. As his family was traveling, the ship was involved in a collision and sunk. Horatio’s daughters perished in the accident.
As Horatio travelled to meet his wife, he penned the words to the hymn, “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.
If you didn’t know the back story, this is one of those hymns that you would think was written by someone who had an easy life and never experienced loss or hard times.
As I write this and share about Horatio’s response to his pain, I’m fearful that you may think that I am saying that you are not supposed to grieve the hard, the difficult, the pain that is in your life. I’m fearful that you may think that I’m saying that we are supposed to gloss over it all and say that everything “is well with my soul” similar to answering “fine” when asked, “How are you?”
That is not the message here. I like Kristene DiMarco’s rendition of the song. In it she sings,
Through it all my eyes are on you. Through it all it is well.
Let go my soul and trust in Him. The waves and wind still know His name.
When we are in the midst of the storm, we can say ,“It is well with my soul” when we keep our eyes on Him. It is not well with my soul because of life circumstances. It is well because I know that God is in control. This does require a trust in God in the midst of the hard, which can in itself seem hard…sometimes impossible, especially when you feel like your boat is sinking. But, remember you do have a savior who gets what you’re going through and is intimately familiar with pain and sorrow. The same savior who calmed the waves and the wind is in control and knows what you are going through.
Hmm…I guess this article was about Jesus after all.
Written by Jonathan McGuire
Jonathan McGuire is the father of two sons and the co-founder of Hope Anew, a nonprofit that comes alongside the parents of children impacted by disability on a spiritual and emotional level. You can follow Hope Anew on Facebook here.
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