It Is Well With My Soul

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/39yr8a

Do you know what your breaking point is? I mean, have you even contemplated what it would take before you would be ready to abandon your faith in God? For many people, that breaking point is not very far away. Some will blame God for things that go wrong and will quickly leave their faith. Others will endure hardships but will harbor ill feelings toward God in the process. A test of a great faith is to face whatever life presents with the assurance that God is for us and will see us through the difficulty.

When people have problems laid upon them today it is sometimes a comfort to read the life of Job and reacquaint ourselves with the problems of that righteous man. But there are other stories of people who lived through adversity and those stories help us as well.

Take, for example, Horatio Spafford. He was a very successful lawyer in Chicago in the 1800s. At one point in his career he began to invest heavily in the real estate market there. Unfortunately, it was just before the great Chicago fire of 1871.

Horatio was out of town in Indiana trying to arrange for the sale of some of that property when he received word of the great fire. Mile after mile of homes and businesses were ruined in that fire. Overnight Horatio lost most of his fortune.

But his wife and four daughters escaped the fire and were safe. That was indeed a comfort. In the days that followed, his wife experienced great pains from her memory of seeing the people who suffered and died during the fire. On the advice of their physician, the Spaffords decided to take a trip to Europe. Due to some pressing meetings, Horatio was unable to go immediately but sent his family on ahead to Europe.

His family boarded the ship and went on their way. But during the trip their ship was struck by another one and 226 people perished as the liner went down. All four of the Spafford daughters died. His wife was one of the survivors and sent a telegram back to Horatio that read, “Survived alone.”

When Horatio received word of that tragedy he told some who were nearby, “I am glad to trust the Lord when it will cost me something.” Now that’s a remarkable attitude to have under such difficult circumstances.

He booked passage on the next ship so he could join his wife. During that trip the captain of the ship came and told Horatio that they were now passing by the approximate place where his daughters had drowned.

Through his obvious grief, Horatio managed to write some wonderful lyrics that you and I know very well today.

When peace like a river attendeth my way

When sorrows like sea billows roll,

What ever my lot, thou hast taught me to say

It is well with my soul.

We can marvel at the strong faith of such a man as Horatio. But we shouldn’t really expect that it should be unusual to be so strong. When we trust in the God who created us and place our faith in Him, we can and should be able to face and overcome whatever difficulties life presents.

A personal tragedy is the basis for the lyrics of this song. But the sadness doesn’t end there. Philip Bliss, a highly respected composer, agreed to set the words to music, which he did. But within a month of its release, Mr. Bliss and his wife were tragically killed in a train wreck in Ashtabula, Ohio.

Like the four Spafford daughters, the bodies of Philip and Lucy Bliss were never recovered. Their families never had the benefit of seeing their loved ones placed in a grave for an earthly rest.

How much faith does it take for a person to be at peace when all around is tragedy? How close are we ever to that breaking point where we abandon God due to the hardships?

Paul said in Romans 8:28, “ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

My prayer is that we will learn from the experiences of others and that we will fortify our faith so that it will never waver or fail.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we learn to take setbacks and hardships in stride and keep them in proper perspective. May we always look to God first for answers and directions when difficult times come. May we learn that whatever happens to us, it may be well with our soul.

Our thought for the day: “Gold is tried by fire, brave men by affliction.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.