It is well with my soul.

Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.

That is one of my favorite hymns and every time I hear the words so beautiful to my ears I am stricken with my own grief, hope, and peace mended through my soul. Have you ever read the history behind this famous hymn? A family loses their only son to scarlet fever leaving behind parents and three sister to mourn his death. The family was wealthy but lost all of their money in the real estate market when all of their property and family fortune was destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire. But the devastating news to come is what undid him. He sent his wife, Ana, and their four daughters (one was born after they loss their son) to England. The ship they were on wrecked and all four of their daughters perished at sea leaving his wife Ana. She sent a telegram to her husband that she had survived alone.

Oh friends, have you ever felt that sorrow? Have you eve found yourself in the middle of a wreckage of what has become all alone and lost? After losing our daughter I was so alone and lost and in the middle of my wreckage I didn’t know if I could survive. I would hear this song over and over on the radio or played at church when I needed to hear it the most.

We believe our redeemer lives. Through the grief, through the pain, the emotions that consume our thoughts, our redeemer lives. When Horatio sailed across the sea where his daughters breathed their last breath, he offered up theses words to our redeemer.

Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, It is well with my soul. 

When we have no energy left to stand alone. When we are overwhelmed with our grief and all we have left is our hope to cling to. Let’s give our grief to God. Let’s offer our joys, our grief, and everything we are to him. It is well with my soul.

It is well with my soul, Horatio G. Spafford, 1873

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.

Refrain:
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 hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Refrain

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought!
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!

Refrain

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.

Refrain

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.

Refrain

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)