2^nd March 2024

SaturdayReflection

'J.John offers'

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'It Is Well with My Soul'

For one hundred and fifty years, Christians have been both comforted and challenged by the hymn 'When Peace Like a River', more widely known by its refrain 'It Is Well with My Soul'.
The first verse is:

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.'

And the unforgettable refrain:

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

'It Is Well with My Soul' is a hymn to make us think, and the story behind it deepens its impact.
The writer, Horatio Gates Spafford, was born in New York in 1828.
He became a successful lawyer in Chicago, and in 1861 married Anna, who was born in Stavanger, Norway.
Together, the Spaffords were committed Christians. He was an elder in a Presbyterian church and they were friends of the evangelist D.L. Moody.

Spafford invested his wealth in property, but in 1871 suffered a financial catastrophe as the Great Fire of Chicago destroyed his investments and he struggled to recover his wealth.

In 1873 Spafford organised a trip to Europe with his wife and four daughters but business matters meant that he had to send his family on ahead.
On 22nd November their steamship, the Ville du Havre, was struck by another vessel and sank within minutes.
In the worst Atlantic disaster prior to the loss of the Titanic in 1912, two hundred and twenty-six people were drowned.
Anna desperately tried to save her daughters but all four died.
Along with eighty other survivors she was rescued and taken to Wales, where she sent a telegram (still preserved) to her husband, beginning with the poignant words, 'Saved alone. What shall I do?'

Spafford immediately took a ship to Europe to be with his wife.
During the crossing he was summoned by the captain to be told that they were passing over the location of the tragedy.
The story is that on returning to his cabin he wrote the words to the hymn 'It Is Well with My Soul'.

These were sent to hymnwriter and composer Philip Bliss, who set them to a tune that he called 'Ville du Havre', after the ship that had perished.

The couple were blessed with three more children, although their son died at the age of four.
Spafford died of malaria in 1888 at the age of 59, and Anna died in 1923.

The hymn remains a glorious assertion of a heavenly perspective on earthly troubles.
It makes the point that over and above all the troubles and tragedies of this life is a God who loves us and cares for us.
It points us to such Old Testament promises as Deuteronomy 33:27,

'The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms',

and such New Testament ones as Philippians 4:7,

'And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.'

'It Is Well with My Soul' is a wonderful hymn and there are times in every life when faith is exactly the sort of note we need to strike.
However, some people have struggled with this hymn, particularly at times of tragedy, because their state of mind means they don't feel that all is well with their soul.
I think this misunderstands the hymn. It is not an expression of our emotions but a statement - in spite of our emotions - about our secure position as Christians in Christ.
It is not about how we feel, but about what we truly are.

It is a hymn that speaks, too, not about what we are at the moment, but about what in eternity we one day will be.
There, all will indeed be well, not just with our souls, but with every aspect of what we are.

Be encouraged, whatever you are currently facing, and declare, 'It is well with my soul' because, to quote a line from another hymn,

'On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.'

J.John
is an Evangelist, minister, speaker, broadcaster and writer.
He has been in ministry for four decades. He has spoken in towns, cities and universities in 69 countries.

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