It Is Well with My Soul

We sung one of my favorite hymns at church today called "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!

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.

Aside from the fact that this hymn is a reminder of the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, for those in Christ Jesus, the story behind it is even more powerful than words can describe. The author of the hymn is Horatio Spafford. Here is the story behind the hymn, according to the Library of Congress.

"In 1871, Horatio Spafford, a prosperous lawyer and devout Presbyterian church elder and his wife, Anna, were living comfortably with their four young daughters in Chicago. In that year the great fire broke out and devastated the entire city. Two years later the family decided to vacation with friends in Europe. At the last moment Horatio was detained by business, and Anna and the girls went on ahead, sailing on the ocean liner S.S. Ville de Havre. On November 21, 1873, the liner was rammed amid ship by a British vessel and sank within minutes. Anna was picked up unconscious on a floating spar, but the four children had drowned... Nine days after the shipwreck Anna landed in Cardiff, Wales, and cabled Horatio, "Saved alone. What shall I do . . ."

After receiving Anna's telegram, Horatio immediately left Chicago to bring his wife home. On the Atlantic crossing, the captain of his ship called Horatio to his cabin to tell him that they were passing over the spot where his four daughters had perished. He wrote to Rachel, his wife's half-sister, "On Thursday last we passed over the spot where she went down, in mid-ocean, the waters three miles deep. But I do not think of our dear ones there. They are safe, folded, the dear lambs."

Horatio wrote this hymn, still sung today, as he passed over their watery grave."

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows." 2 Corinthians 1: 3-5

Nobody would have blamed Horatio Spafford if he, and his wife Anna, had fallen apart following this tragedy. Even the strongest among us would find it difficult to stand up after losing all four of our children and almost losing our spouse. To compound things even worse, Horatio and Anna lost a son at age four in 1880. Five children gone within seven years of each other. Although, the story doesn't go into much detail, I am sure at some point during their grief the question of "Why?" had to come up. But, the answer to that question that must have comforted Horatio when he sailed over the spot his daughters perished is only available to those resting in Christ and the sufficiency provided by the grace of God. As a Christian we know that the end of this life is only the next step in our eternal walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of the coming return of Christ, we don't mourn the passing of loved ones the way the lost do, who have no hope. While our loss hurts just the same, we know that death does not separate us from the Lord and that one day we will be reunited with our loved ones in Christ. The comfort that Spafford found in Christ during this struggle has comforted many other Christians, for the last 135 years, through the hymn he penned.

"For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5: 17-21

The circumstances surrounding the tragedy are secondary to the fact that the tragedy is, ultimately, the result of sin being in the world. That sin, brought in through the disobedience of Adam, has reverberated throughout history to this day. But, because of His great love for us, God sent Jesus to take away those sins for eternity by shedding His blood for us on the cross, so that raised from the dead, we could have eternal life in Him. Spafford was comforted by the fact that His children were now safe in the arms of Jesus Christ. Therefore, while I am sure he would have given anything to spend more time with his children, other than the few short years they were here on earth, he knew that he would one day be reunited with them in Heaven. It is this truth that came to mind when he visited the spot where his children passed. He didn't look at it as a three mile deep abyss that held the bodies of his children. He recognized it as the spot that his children went home to be with the Lord and was comforted.

"Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." Hebrews 9: 27-28

The Lord took our sins away from the eyes of God once and for all time. He is not going to come back and die again for our sins. When He does return it is to gather the saints who are waiting for Him. When Spafford wrote his hymn He had the hope that the Lord could return any moment. And at that moment his faith would become sight. Spafford has since gone home to be with the Lord and be reunited with his children. But, while he was here on earth he knew that his sins were not separating him from God and that the death of his children, something we all will face one day, did not separate them from God either. It is this truth that allowed him to say, "it is well with my soul." And it is that same truth that allows us to say it as well when the trials of life come upon us. Amen!