It Is Well

When peace like a river attendeth my soul

When sorrows like sea billows roll

Whatever my lot, Thou hast 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

Have you heard the story behind this hymn? Horatio Spafford had lost his only son to the Scarlet Fever, lost all four of his daughters in a shipwreck and lost most of his property holdings in the Chicago Fire. All of these tragedies happened within 2 years, and instead of turning to anger and resentment, he turned to joy in the Lord. Of course, he must have been devastated by losing all five of his children and losing most of his business, but he knew Jesus was better than anything he could have lost here on earth.

During the times that we are living in, I think we can learn a lot from how he dealt with his situation. Personally, anxiety has been weighing on my heart for the past few weeks. The uncertainty of the future and the evil that is in the world has become so evident, and I have lost sight of who sits on The Throne. I know the truths.

These truths:

• He is the Prince of Peace

• He has defeated death

• He wins, therefore I win

• I have the Holy Spirit within me

• He is good

• In His presence, there is fullness of joy

• His perfect love casts out fear

So why do I so easily forget about who He is and what He has done for me? I lose sight of what He did in those three days while His body laid in the tomb. HE DEFEATED DEATH! Through Him, I have peace! Through what He did, I can cast my burdens and worries on Him! Horatio did not lose sight of these things. He did not ignore the agony his heart must have been enduring, he simply chose to lay it all down at Jesus’ feet. Horatio chose to trust the Lord when his circumstances seemed like Jesus was not worthy of his trust.

You may even wonder why we continue to worship a God when our lives seem to be falling apart, or when anxiety or depression has caused our hearts so much pain, or sickness has controlled our bodies; but let me encourage you to not lose sight of who God is. The Bible says that He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), so He is not falling apart when everything else seems to be. The Bible says that He is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), so when your heart is troubled, declare that truth over yourself. The Bible says that by His stripes, you are healed (Isaiah 53:5), so stand in that truth.

I think Horatio also took inspiration, peace and guidance from Philippians 4:4-7, just as I did this morning.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

You may have read the first verse, rolled your eyes, and thought, “How am I supposed to rejoice always?” Well, let me give you some context for when Paul wrote this letter: he was in prison. Do you think Paul’s circumstances were worthy of rejoicing in the Lord? Let’s back up to 2 Corinthians 4:17 when Paul wrote, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” He knew that preaching the gospel, which warrants time spent in prison, would lead people to Christ making earthly consequences worth the heavenly glory. You may not understand why you are walking through trials and tribulations, you may not see how your circumstances translate into heavenly glory, but James 1:2-3 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” Every moment of every day, you have the opportunity to practice your faith. You get to see what your faith is made of when put to the test, so don’t lose hope. Stay grounded in your faith. When you finish walking through the present trial and tribulation, your faith will become stronger and that faith will produce steadfastness. So, you may not know the heavenly glory that will come out of your current situation, but you do know that your faith will be strengthened!

You may have even rolled your eyes harder at the next commandement: “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.” How am I supposed to not be anxious about anything?? There are so many variables in my life that are not constant and I can’t control all of them! Exactly. You aren’t in control, and anxiety stems from losing control. But, He is in control, and He is perfect and good, and His plans for you are to give you hope and a future, not to harm you (Jeremiah 29:11). I read somewhere that anxiety is a signal that it’s time to pray, and this verse spells that out clearly. Earnestly pray to Him and tell Him what’s troubling you. Jesus did the same thing in the garden before He was betrayed by Judas and turned over to the Roman soldiers. Let me tell ya, we have never known stress like Jesus did. While praying to the Father, He began to sweat blood, something that only happens when a person is under a considerable amount of stress. He earnestly asked the Father to take this cup from Him (Luke 22:42). He knew what was about to come, He knew He was about to be brutally beaten for us, but He did not lose sight of the glory that was to come. The glory that you and I get to be heirs to the throne, the glory that we get to have a personal relationship with Him, the glory of saving all humanity. He knew the momentary affliction did not compare to the glory that was to come.

The final part of these verses is a promise: peace. “And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” This is not a peace that the world knows, it’s a divine peace from our Father. It does not make sense to the world that we have this peace. When Horatio wrote “It is Well,” people that knew his situation probably could not make sense of this unexplainable peace that was deep within his heart. He could have had the “fake it ‘til you make it” mentality, but I think his heart was filled with true peace that passes all understanding. For me, anxiety starts in my heart and mind. It stems from when I let a fear or worry take root in my heart and then allow it to control my perspective, guiding me away from looking at Him. This is why it is so important to take your thoughts captive and replace lies with truth.

Replace “you are not enough” with “I am fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God the Father.”

Replace “my future will not amount to anything” with “He has plans to prosper and bless me, and He has caused me to be triumphant and greatly prosperous.”

Replace “I am not worthy of love” with “Jesus loves me with steadfast love.”

Replace “Addiction is the only thing that can cure this empty feeling” with “Jesus is enough to sustain me and in His presence there is fullness of joy.”

Replace “I am afraid” with “He is the Prince of Peace, He commands me to be courageous, I will not fear evil because He walks with me.”

Replace “I feel alone” with “He will never leave me nor forsake me because He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.”

This passage says that peace will guard our hearts and minds. God has the power to fight off all of these thoughts by Himself, but He invites us to strengthen our faith and fight our battles with Him. His peace will guard our hearts and minds, but we must have the scriptures written on our hearts to be effective against the devil’s schemes. It says in Luke 10:19, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” Can I get a “Praise Jesus!” for that?! When you feel overwhelmed and defeated, remember this verse - the devil has absolutely no power over you! You have all of the power over him!

I understand that you may feel overwhelmed, defeated or discouraged. I have felt that way before, but we have to remember who sits on The Throne. Our God is a good God who loves His children so deeply and so fiercely. It’s a love that can’t be described, but I do know that it’s a love that casts out all fear, it’s a love that brings peace, it’s a love that picks us up when we fall and wipes our tears away, it’s a perfect love. No matter what our world is going through, know that it is not our home and it is well with our soul.