It Is Well With My Soul

Dig Deeper…

Why God?

Have you ever asked God “Why?” Maybe you’re in one of those seasons right now where everything is falling apart and things just don’t make sense. If so, It is Well With My Soul is a hymn you should become intimately familiar with.

A few years ago I was introduced to a young man whose family had disowned him. He told me it was because of his faith in Christ. I assumed of course I understood. I mean, some of my family rejected me when I became a Christian. Isn’t this what Jesus promised us? Matthew 10:34-39.

“No,” he said. I had it all wrong. He was raised in a Christian home, went to church his whole life, but something had happened and his parents renounced their faith. “Who died?,” I asked. It turns out the young man I was speaking to had a younger brother who died, and his parents couldn’t reconcile their loss with the notion of a good God so they renounced their faith. Over time, they grew openly hostile to the faith such that when their son (who I was talking to) wanted to go to a Christian college, they all but forced him out of their lives.

We know that pain and loss are every day consequences of living in a world corrupted by sin. We know that… intellectually. But when we are personally confronted with tragedy, that is when we truly see the depth of our own trust in Christ.

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.

These words roll off the tongue, don’t they? Try it – read these lyrics out loud.

Beautiful, right?

Imagine, though, you’ve suffered a loss you are too frightened to contemplate… something so awful that to experience it might take your will to live. Keep that thought in mind and consider…

Job suffered like that. You know the story, don’t you? If not, you can read it for yourself in Job 1:13-19 and Job 2:7-8.

Job lost his material wealth, all 10 of his children, and his health. What was his response, though, to the awful tragedies he suffered?

“Then Job fell to the ground in worship and said ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. May the Name of the Lord be praised.'” Job 1:20-21

Then, when Job’s wife suggested her husband curse God and die, how did Job respond? “Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?” Job 2:10

What had Job done to deserve what happened to him? Nothing. Nothing at all.

Joseph suffered like that. You know the story, don’t you? If not, you can read it for yourself in Genesis 37-50.

Joseph’s brothers, jealous of their father’s obvious favoritism of Joseph, hated him, and at first planned to throw him in a hole and let him die of starvation and exposure (Genesis 37:19-24). Then, they changed their minds and instead decided to profit from their brother’s life and sold him into slavery (Genesis 37:26-28).

Joseph ended up in Egypt where he served as a slave in Potiphar’s house and was falsely accused of trying to sleep with his master’s wife (Genesis 39:1-19). It was a lie, of course, but that lie landed Joseph in jail (Genesis 39:20).

What had Joseph done to his brothers to justify their hatred of him? Nothing. Nothing at all.

What had Joseph done to justify being thrown into prison? Nothing. Nothing at all.

And what was Joseph’s response to the horrors he endured? When he finally revealed himself to his brothers, he said this to them:

“And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.” (Genesis 45:4-8).

Then, after their father died, and his brothers were frightened that Joseph might now seek revenge for their prior mistreatment of him, Joseph said this to his brothers:

“‘Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.’ And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.” (Genesis 50:19-21).

The Apostle Paul suffered like that. You know the story, don’t you? If not, you can read about it in Acts (Acts 9:23-30, Acts 13:44-50, Acts 14:1-7, Acts 14:19-20, Acts 16:16-24, Acts 17:13, Acts 18:5-6, Acts 19:23-30, Acts 20:13, Acts 21:27-36, Acts 23:12-22) and 2 Corinthians (2 Corinthians 6:3-10, 2 Corinthians 11:16-33, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10).

Paul was repeatedly beaten, imprisoned, ridiculed, slandered, starved and was at death’s door more times than he could count.

What had Paul done to justify the hateful way he was treated? Nothing. Nothing at all.

And what was Paul’s response to the horrors he endured?

“Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for Whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead…

“…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him Who gives me strength.” Philippians 3:7-11, Philippians 4:11-14.

Horatio Spafford (1828-1888) suffered like that. His may be a story you aren’t as familiar with, though.

A devout Christian man, in 1870 Horatio’s four-year-old son, Horatio, Jr., died of scarlet fever. Then, in 1871 he lost most of his material wealth as a result of the Great Fire of Chicago. Two years later in November of 1873, Horatio, his wife, Anna, and their four daughters planned a trip to England to hear their friend, D.L. Moody, preach. At the last minute Horatio had to stay in the states for business while his wife and daughters, Anna (age 11), Margaret Lee (age 9), Elizabeth (age 5) and Tanetta (age 2), boarded the French ship, Ville du Havre, in New York and set sail for London.

On November 22, 1873, tragedy again struck the Spafford family when the Ville du Havre was struck by a British ship, the Loch Earn, and sank in just 12 short minutes. As a result of that collision 226 people died, including all four of the Spafford’s children.

Horatio learned of the tragedy when he received this telegram… https://www.loc.gov/resource/mamcol.011

Horatio immediately set sail to come to his wife’s side, and as his ship was passing over the spot where his children all perished, it is said he penned the lyrics that became the hymn, It is Well With My Soul.

What had Horatio done to deserve what happened to him. Nothing. Nothing at all.

And how did he respond?

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

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (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 has shed His own blood for my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought (a thought)
My sin, not in part, but the whole (every bit, every bit, all of it)
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more (yes!)
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul
Sing it as well
It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with 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!

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul
Sing up to Jesus, it is well!
It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

How could he write such a song of worship, praise and exaltation in the face of such awful, awful loss?

His faith in Jesus of Nazareth… a man Who suffered more than any other.

Yes, Jesus suffered like that. You know the story, don’t you? If not, you can read about it in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Jesus lived without sin, loved others, fed the hungry and healed the sick. He lived to love the loveless and to be a friend to all who needed one.

Yet, He was despised, rejected, beaten till He could barely stand, spit on, mocked, humiliated and ultimately crucified.

And what had He done to deserve what He suffered?

He loved you… that’s why He suffered.

He loved you.

And what about you? Has life not worked out as you planned? Job would understand. Have you been treated terribly by those closest to you? Joseph could provide a sympathetic shoulder to cry on. Have you been scorned and humiliated just because you love Christ? Paul would understand and empathize. Have you lost your wealth? Have you lost a child? Horatio Spafford could be called upon to comfort and encourage you in your hour of need.

The truth is, we can say we are followers of Christ, but the real test of our faith often comes in the fiery furnace of life. Just ask Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel 3:13-30)… who, by the way, did nothing to deserve being thrown into an oven.

God is calling you to trust Him-whatever your circumstances. No matter the loss, whatever the disappointment. Whatever pain you endure He calls you to trust Him, love Him, worship Him, and to have joy. These are the marks of genuine faith.

This is what a strong, abiding faith in Christ looks like:

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

Is it so with yours?

We may never know why things are so hard, why we have had to hurt in the ways we have. Like Job, we may never really know in this life. What we can say is that our God is good (Psalm 34:8, Psalm 107:1, Psalm 145:9), that He has a plan and purpose behind everything (Ephesians 1:11), and that He is working out everything for His own glory (Psalm 25:11, Psalm 79:9; Isaiah 43:25; Jeremiah 14:17-21; Romans 3:25-26; 1 John 2:12) and our own good (Romans 8:28) — transformation into the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29) .

What can see us through? Believing God is Who He says He is. Believing that He knows what He’s doing and that there is purpose in our pain – even if we can’t understand it… even though what is happening may be tearing us up inside with grief. God rules and reigns, and He can be trusted.

“Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?” (Job 2:10).

“You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20).

“I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation through Christ Who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:12).

What about you? When your story is told, what will those who are left behind say about you and how you responded to the tragedies that occur to us all?

Are you in a season of anguish, confusion, of pain so great you wonder how you can possibly go on? Know you are in good company.

And when you want to ask the inevitable question of God, “Why,” you already have your answer:

He loves you and is busy forming Christ in you. That’s why. Just ask Horatio Spafford.

Our shattered dreams are never random.
They’re always a piece in a larger puzzle, a chapter in a larger story.

Pain is a tragedy.

But it is never only a tragedy.
For the Christian, it’s always a necessary mile on the long journey to joy.

Larry Crabb, Shattered Dreams