Spafford and his family were close friends and supporters of Dwight L. Moody. Philip Bliss, a hymn-writer who became a full-time evangelist in 1874, wrote a tune in 1876 for the words Spafford had written, naming it Ville du Havre, after the ship on which Spafford's daughters perished. Shortly after writing the tune for It Is Well With My Soul, Bliss died in a train wreck alongside his wife, leaving the words to another famous hymn, and the only one written by Bliss for which he did not leave a tune, I Will Sing of My Redeemer.
The first words of this hymn are easy to sing: "When peace like a river attendeth my soul," it is easy to sing, "It is well with my soul." And yet the very next line reminds us that sometimes "sorrows like sea-billows roll." This hymn is powerful to me because it was written by a man who had just suffered devastating loss. His loss was far greater than anything I have ever experienced, and yet his faith in his Savior was such that he could say "it is well."
Every one of us goes through trials. Some are large, some are small, and yet they are all larger than us and smaller than Him. Sometimes we see our own trials in perspective of someone else's trials and we are discouraged. The past several weeks have been extremely difficult for me as I am far away from my family and cannot be the comfort I want to be to them in the midst of serious medical issues. A friend who had recently been coming to me for comfort with several trials remarked that those trials seemed trivial in comparison to the ones that I was experiencing.
My response was to explain how small my trials seemed in comparison to ones I knew other people were going through. Even as I was worrying over my uncle's health and seeking comfort from one of my "moms" here in Michigan, I found out that her uncle had died a few days previously. Suddenly a health scare seemed small and trivial. And yet that amazing woman of God comforted me even in the midst of her own trial. The trials we face are too big for us. But they are never too big for Him. And He has given us the Body of Christ to build us up and carry us through these trials. He will sustain us, but He has also given us comforters to surround us and encourage us.
I have been participating the past 3 weeks in 40 Days for Life, a peaceful prayer vigil outside of abortion clinics. This week I was discouraged. It seemed as though our prayers were ineffective. We still saw women walking into that clinic day after day. And then God put things in perspective. Yesterday morning, I noticed that even by 9 a.m. I had not seen any employee cars drive in. Usually they start driving in about 7:45 and keep filtering in until 9:15. When I remarked on this to another prayer warrior who has been involved in this campaign for several years, he commented that they usually have limited hours on Saturdays, and he thought that more recently they had reduced their Saturday hours to one Saturday a month. Based on their website, they no longer have Saturday hours.
Despite the discouragement I was feeling, the hopelessness and despair at not being able to make a difference, God is working. Demand for abortions in Ann Arbor has gone down such that they are not using Saturdays to continue the horrific work. God is on the move, and He is defending His children. He has not shut down this facility yet, but I believe that He will, and I will continue to pray for Him to do so. This is the God who is bigger than any trials we may face. He is able, and we wait for Him.
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.
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, 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.
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has 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 the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
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!
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.
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
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!
Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of my soul!
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!
Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of 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,
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
(Public Domain)
I was talking with a friend today about how his debilitating disease, which has severely limited him physically, has made me better appreciate even the smallest things I can do. I hoped he wouldn't be offended by my saying that. He agreed that we take simple things for granted until we lose them. I think he also saw a glimpse of something positive in his suffering.
ReplyDeleteFrom our perspective, that payoff seems small and insignificant compared to the cost involved. But there's so much we don't see that God accomplishes in spiritual realms.
Our pastor preached today about how we ALL are members of the body of Christ, and that every member is needed to build up the others. It made me wonder about how those members who are so disabled fulfill their ministry to the body. We talked about a few ways...
firstly, most ways that we serve involve physically doing something, such as preaching, teaching Sunday school, singing or playing in the worship team, ushering or taking out the trash. Any of those can be performed in our own strength, without necessarily depending on the Lord. As a missionary, I know firsthand that too often I try to do the work myself instead of leaning on the Holy Spirit.
The apostle Paul learned that his physical affliction was given to him so that he would depend on God's grace and not in his own strength. He said, "when I am weak, I am strong." I think that in much the same way that a blind person's sense of hearing or touch becomes more acute, that when one's physical ability diminishes, there's potential for the spirit to gain strength.
My friend acknowledged that and said that he is intentionally focusing more on intercessory prayer. That's wonderful, but I think there's even more to it...
Just undergoing suffering is a witness - to those around, and also to the spiritual powers in heavenly realms. Job is and example of that.
I don't know all that God is doing through my friends' unpleasant circumstances. But I do know that spending a little time with him ministers to me in unexpected ways, and I'm being built up in my mind, heart and spirit.
It IS well with my soul.