It is Well with My Soul

We actually sang this song in church and after a conversation with some friends, I wanted to remember the history behind the song.  In my mind, I actually tied both the song and our conversation together and did some research just to bore the masses here.

The song is penned by a man named Horatio Spafford in the late 1800's.  Mr. Spafford walked through a very difficult life to say the least.  In 1871, his four year old son died.  Shortly after that (same year), a historic Chicago fire ruined him financially.  In 1873, he was planning a trip to Europe with his family but sent them ahead by boat since he was dealing with zoning problems after the fire.  The ship carrying his family collided with a sailing ship and all four of Spafford's daughters died.  His wife Anna survived and sent him a now famous telegram that simply said "Saved alone...".

As Spafford sailed to his wife to comfort her, he penned the hymn "It is Well with My Soul" as he sailed near the area where his children had died.

If I stopped here, that would be enough for just about anyone.  But the story goes on.  The Spaffords later had three more children.  Another son died in infancy.  You would think at this point, that they would check out.  But not the Spaffords.  They moved to Jerusalem and founded a group called the American Colony whose sole purpose was to serve the poor.  The colony became the subject of the Nobel prize winning "Jerusalem" by Swedish novelist Selma Lagerlof.  Their love for God and their realization of His love for them brought God glory in a way they could never have realized.

You see, Horatio and Anna Spafford longed for a better country.  They knew that this life was temporary and they chose to give their lives to Christ despite their adversity.  They were "Heavenly minded".  It reminds me of this verse:

Hebrews 11:16
Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Tough times will come.  There is nothing concrete about our world.  It will change and in time, our lives will too.  The one constant that we have is that God loves us and will never leave us and He states it clearly in Hebrews 13

Hebrews 13:5b

Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you.

It is with that concrete foundation of eternal love, that we become heavenly minded and realize that our lives have been set into place to serve God, love God, and give ourselves to Him in all we do.

Romans 12:1
 ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

We should be like the Spaffords and know that no matter what happens, we can say that "It is Well with My Soul" because God will never let us slip through His fingers.  I pray we are heavenly minded offering ourselves to God because of all He's done and for the love He will never relinquish.  I leave you with the words to 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 know,
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!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of 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.

Horatio Spafford

Is The Darkness Passing Away?

I was reading 1 John and I got stuck on 1 John 2:7-8 (NASB).  It states the following:

 ⁷ Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. ⁸ On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.

I had to think about this one for awhile.  Especially the statement, "because the darkness is passing away".  I couldn't help but ask, "Is it really?"  When I look at our world today, it looks darker than ever and it seems to be getting even darker. 

As I continued on, I realized that 1 John 2 is really talking about two separate deaths.  There is one death that is happening within us as we "abide in the light" 

Verse 10 talks about this internal "passing away":

 ¹⁰ The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him

Then from verse 15 on, there is another death or "passing away" that seems to be occurring.  Verse 17 states this:

¹⁷ The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

We see that while darkness seems to be thriving, it doesn't take a scholar to see that this world is falling apart.  There there's that word I see again in verse 24:

 ²⁴ As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

So I hit the Greek for this one and most of the meanings are very similar:

"abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for)"

The message seems simple when we look at it, but it suggests a few things:

·         If we are told to "remain", it suggests that we are going to be tempted to walk away.  Whether it is what we are facing or what we are tempted by, we must make a conscious effort to "remain".  It won't just happen.  We must be purposeful in remaining. I love this verse:

Proverbs 4:23
²³ Watch over your heart with all diligence, 
For from it flow the springs of life. 

This implies that our heart will be tempted and we must guard it intentionally.

·         If we are to "endure", it means that there are times that it will be hard "to be in the Light".  There is a popular misconception that Christianity is easy.  It's not easy.  You may not be successful or have your "best life now."  Your faith may involve sacrifice or even suffering.  Jesus put this easy life thought to rest rather quickly:

John 16:33

³³These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

Jesus states that it will be hard, but He never leaves us without hope.  He just promises that it will be worth it.

·         If you are to "stand", you may lose friends.  You may not be popular and your stand may require courage in facing fierce opposition.  I love this line from the movie Courageous:

A father says to his son, "What I want for you is that you seek the Lord, that you trust Him, even if it means you're standing alone." 

What would you do if everyone you knew turned their back on you because you trusted God?  Could you do it?  I believe it's harder than we think.

So I closed my Bible with a new appreciation for the word "abide".  The world is passing away.  The old me is passing away as I draw closer to Christ.  No matter what I face in this life, my biggest hope is that I abide in Christ, no matter what the cost.