It is Well With My Soul

You ever have one of those days when everything just seems to be going wrong?  Spilled my morning tea.  Oatmeal didn’t cook right.  Wet bike, gloomy weather.  Forgotten assignments, missed deadlines.  That kind of day.  

In the midst of all this, the hymn, It is Well, played in my head throughout the day, and sometime in the heavy hours of the afternoon I finally came to sit and wonder what the lyrics of that song actually meant.

This is the story of the historic hymn.  Horatio Spafford was a wealthy chicago lawyer, husband and father to four beautiful children.  He was devoted to the simple gospel, and lived a life following Jesus.  In the span of three years - during the height of his career - Spafford’s wealth vanished through the Great Chicago Fire.  He lost his one and only son from sickness.  He sent his daughters and wife on a boat to England to visit family, and all three of his daughters breathed their last breath as the ship wrecked.  Only Anna, his wife, survived.  

Imagine the grief.  Imagine the uncontrollable and overwhelming feeling of loss and utter sorrow. Imagine how alone Anna felt, having gotten to land, childless.  

On a boat to meet with his wife in England, Spafford wrote the most honest and sincere words anyone could in a moment of vulnerability.  

When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

What does it take for us to come to the Lord, amidst our circumstances, and say that it is truly well with our souls? To put our hope in knowing one day, our faith shall be sight.  To spend the rest of our days until then offering our sorrows and our joys to the Lord.

The Lord will truly give and take away, just to remind us that the things of this world are not ours.  He will do whatever it takes for us to realize again and again that we need him, every hour, every moment.  This life was never meant to be easy; the ultimate reward of our living and breathing life is to come to pure joy and pure nothingness - so that the Lord may fill us up with every piece of goodness and love and freedom.  

My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Live well and Spread the Love,

For the Praise of His Glory,

XOXO Gracie