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"

The familiar words penned by hymn writer Horatio Spafford, though perhaps heard by many, will never lose the meaning they have for me. Perhaps it's the fact that I've sung them at funerals which I'll never forget, practically croaking the words between silent sobs. Maybe it's the comfort they've given me at times when only Christ and His promises could soothe me. Or maybe it's the way the words resonate so deeply within me.

Whatever the answer, the well-known hymn always brings me to a state of humble awe before a Holy God, tears often rising as the last "It is well with my soul" rings out through my church's congregation (or through my AirPods).

Though many have heard the familiar hymn, and some understand the truth held in the lyrics, not everyone knows the story behind the peaceful words. Horatio Spafford had known his share of suffering and pain. He first lost his only son to sickness, and later, all four of his precious daughters to a horrible shipwreck. In other words, Horatio Spafford had many reasons for it not to be well with His soul. And yet, that is not the story told through his hymn.

Horatio's lyrics do not question God's plan (though I am sure Spafford had many moments of doubt intertwined through his grief). Instead, the lyrics write a beautiful story of God's help through trials, His forgiveness of sins, and His promise to one day make all things whole. Although the story of Horatio's life was one full of grief, that is not the story he tells through this hymn.

So why was this grief-torn man able to say with such confidence and eloquence that it was well with His soul? How can I myself say that it is also well with my soul? And how can you, dear reader, find this un-understandable peace for yourself?

The answer is found the gospel. It lies in the Creator of the universe lying helpless as an infant in a manger. It hangs on the shoulders of the Messiah who died on a cross and rose again to set us free. It sits in the heart of every person changed by this miraculous story. This peace isn't some fuzzy feeling the most holy Christians somehow have access to. It's the story of a Holy God loving His sinful people and bringing them back to Him again and again. And you, too, can know this story as your own.

This world is dark, and I am sure that you, my friend, have known your own "sorrows like sea billows." If it wasn't for the goodness of our Lord, I fear I would often be swallowed up completely by the suffering of this shattered world in which we live. But because of what Christ has done for me, I have peace. I pray that you, too, can whole heartedly say with me, "It is well with my soul."