The Impact of "It Is Well" ...

I can't tell you how many times I have listened to a rendition of the classic hymn "It Is Well With My Soul" and not think of the true heartache and anguish that writer Horation Spafford was going through just prior to writing it.

I was sitting down listening to the rock band Kutless' latest take on the song and it got me really thinking about it. I consider Spafford a modern-era Job. He lost most of posessions in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. But the material posessions that he lost were nothing compared to what he would lose just a few short years later in November of 1873. On board the steamship Ville du Havre, Spafford's wife Anna along with his four daughters Annie, 11; Maggie, 9; Bessie, 5 and Tanetta, 2 met disaster when an iron sailing vessel, Loch Earn collided with the steamship. Of the 313 passenger aboard the Ville du Havre, 226 perished into eternity, including all four of Spafford's daughters. Anna, who was picked up by a passing ship, found unconcious was brought aboard. When Anna arrived in Wales nine days later she sent her husband a telegram that said, "Saved Alone. What shall we do?"

Those words would have haunted me. Spafford immediately picked up to leave for his wife after receiving the telegram. When the ship carrying Spafford to Europe passed by the location of the tragedy, the Captain sent for Horatio to come to his cabin. There, he told him that they were passing by the spot in where his daughters had drowned. What happened next was history. With pen in hand and consolation from the Holy Spirit, Spafford penned this now classic and emotional hymn ...

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 pain 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)

Spafford's story of tragedy and the ability to overcome it could have only been done with the help of God. Just like Job, Spafford had put his full faith in trust in God and that through Christ he would be with his daughter once again.

It still doesn't stop me from getting teary eyed when I think of the tragedy that he went through, which ultimately brought him closer to the Lord. Praise God for stories like this, whose tragedies teach us that even in the toughest and trying of times, we still need to turn to and give ourselves to God and realize that He is still in control no matter what the circumstances be.

"It Is Well With My Soul" is an everlasting reminder of when Jesus says, "I'll never leave nor forsake you." Great reminder, coming from the Savior Himself.