One of my favorite hymns is “It Is Well With My Soul” especially after learning the story behind this hymn.  We sang this hymn yesterday in church and I decided it would be interesting to share the story with those of you who may not know it.

The words to the hymn were written by Horatio Spafford.  Horatio was a successful Chicago lawyer and businessman.  He was married to Anna and together they had one son and four daughters.  In 1870 the Spafford’s lost their only son to scarlet fever at the age of four.  A year later they lost their sizable real estate holdings on Chicago’s lake shore in the great Chicago fire.

In 1873, after all they’d been through, Horatio decided to take his family to England for a much needed rest.  The family traveled from Chicago to New York where they were to board a ship to cross the Atlantic.  At the last minute, a business issue came up that Horatio needed to handle.  Instead of making the whole family wait, he sent the family on ahead of him and he would follow later once he’d attended to his business matters.

Nine days later Horatio received a telegram from his wife, who was, by this time, in Wales.  It simply read “Saved alone.”  En route from New York to Europe the ship that his wife and children were on had collided with another ship and within 12 minutes the ship that his wife and family were on had sunk and 226 people had lost their lives.

When he heard the horrible news, Horatio took the next ship from New York to join his wife in Europe.  At one point, while they were still in the Atlantic, the captain called Horatio to the bridge and said, “I believe this is the spot where the ship that your family was on went down.”  Horatio went back to his cabin on that ship where he wrote the words to this hymn that we’ve sung so many times in the years since then. 

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."

Though Satan should buffet,
Though trials should come,
Let this blessed assurance control:
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate
And has shed His own blood for my soul.

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!

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.

We ask ourselves, “How in the world could this man write these words after such tragedies?”  We find the answer in the last verse.  It was because of his faith. 

Habakkuk 2:4 says, “The righteous shall live by faith.” 

What is your “lot” in life?  It could be the illness or death of a loved one, your own chronic pain or a wayward child.  However, our lot also includes our pleasures, gains, and joys.  In Christ, whatever our lot, we should be able to repeat with Horatio Spafford, “it is well with my soul” and draw comfort from that fact.

Have a great day!