It is well with my soul

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.

This is the first verse of Horatio Spafford's beloved hymn, When Peace Like a River (It Is Well With My Soul). It is powerful to read and sing, particularly within the context of the story of Spafford's own life experiences. Within the span of a few months, Spafford's young son died of scarlet fever and he lost a fortune in the great Chicago fire of 1871. Just two years later, on a voyage by sea to England, all four of his daughters died in a shipwreck. Only his wife, Anna, survived. As he was sailing from the US to England to meet up with his wife, he wrote these words as the ship passed over the location where his daughters had been lost. 

Photo by Torsten Dederichs on Unsplash

"When sorrows like sea billows roll" is apt metaphor for those times when we feel like one thing after another is crashing over us; times when we feel tumbled so relentlessly that we cannot catch our breath and struggle to know which way is up. Overwhelmed, discouraged, heartbroken, we might cry out to God in the words of the psalmist - "How long, O Lord?!"

For Spafford, God's faithfulness and the assurance of God's presence even in the midst of this suffering allowed him to say "It is well with my soul." For some of us, we are able to cling to the hope of God's promises right away; for others, we linger in anger or despair a bit longer. Both are faithful responses.

We worship a God who is big enough to hold all of our emotions - yes, even anger, lament, accusation, and uncertainty. We worship a God who knows the depths of our suffering and despair, who knew it in his own body on the cross. We worship a God who is closer to us than our own breath, who prays on our behalf with sighs too deep for words. 

We wait with deep longing for that day when sorrow, pain, suffering, tears, and death will be no more. In the meantime, we cry out for God's presence, peace, comfort, and strength in the midst of life's storms, hopeful that it will be well with our soul.

Bonus resources: 

• Hear the hymn sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and read more of the back story.
• For some excellent Lutheran theological reflection on tragedy and suffering, check out the work of the Rev. Dr. Anna Madsen, who writes with honesty and hope based in her own experience of an accident that killed her husband and severely injured her young son Karl.