| By Patrycja Szczeniowska,
on Friday, 30 March 2007
|
'It Is Well with
My Soul'
A singer with the
popular Christian band Avalon
on how he uses
faith and music to get through tough times.
By Jody
McBrayer
In the 1870s, Horatio Spafford was a
successful Chicago lawyer.
He had a wife named Anna and five
children. Early in 1871, one of Mr.
Spafford's children, his only son, died
suddenly and left the entire family devastated.
Spafford had invested heavily in real
estate and, as if to add insult to injury,
he lost most of his properties as well as
his life savings during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
Spafford desperately needed a rest, so in
1873 he planned a trip to Europe with his wife and four
daughters.
Last minute business caused Spafford to
delay his departure,
but he sent his wife and daughters on the
S.S. Ville Du Havre as scheduled, promising to follow in a few
days.
On November 22, the ship was struck by the
English ship Lochearn, and it sank in twelve minutes.
244 souls perished that day, including all
four of Spafford's daughters. Several days later,
what little survivors there were, landed
at Cardiff, Wales. Spafford's wife Anna was among them.
She cabled her husband the brief message,
"Saved alone, what shall I do?"
When Horatio Spafford made the trip to
meet his grieving wife,
he sailed near the place where his four
daughters had sunk to the ocean depths. There,
in the midst of his sorrow, he wrote the
unforgettable words to a song that
has brought healing and hope to countless
people: "It is Well With My Soul."
I have been singing that song my whole
life but never knew the story behind it until recently.
To say that it has inspired me would be an
understatement.
Every one of us experience pain and loss
in this life. We come face to face with difficulties that overwhelm
us,
often leaving us paralyzed and unable to
move forward.
What does it say about a man like Horatio
Spafford to have his entire family and fortune taken from him,
yet still have enough faith in God to say,
"It Is Well&hellip."?
I'm not sure I would respond that way. As
a matter of fact, I haven't.
I haven't even begun to experience the
kind of loss that Mr. Spafford did, and yet my response to loss has
been very different.
My father passed away in 2000, and to this
day I still shake my head at the heavens and ask why. That's
where
Mr. Spafford's life and story have helped
alter my perspective.
Philippians 4:7 from The Message Bible
says; "Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray.
Let petitions and praises shape your
worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.
Before you know it, a sense of God's
wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and
settle you down.
It's wonderful what happens when Christ
displaces worry at the center of your life."
I love that line, "...when God
displaces worry at the center of your life."
There really is a peace beyond our own
understanding. God promises us peace and a clearer
understanding
of life's difficulties if we'll only
just pray and seek Him.
The true test is not the trial itself but
how we respond to that trial. Mr. Spafford knew this.
Horatio Spafford was a mighty man of
God.
One who shared company with some of the
greatest spiritual men of his time.
They would often call on him for advice
and prayer because of his godly character.
That is the kind of man I want to be.
That's what God wants for all of us--to be people who are sold out
for Christ,
and so firmly rooted in His faith that we
can withstand any storm.
The second verse of "It is Well" says:
"Though Satan
should buffet.
Though trials
should come.
Let this blessed
assurance control.
That Christ has
regarded my helpless estate
and hath shed His
own blood for my soul."
It is my prayer that when you and I are
faced with struggles, we respond as Mr. Spafford did.
With the "blessed assurance" of knowing
that God is bigger than our circumstances. He is greater than our
speeding tickets.
He is more powerful than divorce. He is
mightier than cancer or disease.
Our God took into consideration all of
these situations, both joyful and difficult,
long before time began. Then, He sent
Jesus to take those burdens from us and to renew our lives.
In Isaiah 53 it
says; "...He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for
our iniquities;
the punishment
that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are
healed."
I wish you all peace, the kind of peace
that Horatio Spafford had.
The peace that only comes when we trust
God with every fiber of our being.
Knowing deep within us that, no matter
where we are in this life,
no matter what answers we don't have, no
matter how difficult the path ahead may be,
we can sing and truly believe "It is well,
it is well with my soul."
Last update : Friday, 30 March 2007
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