Regarding Peace

“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.”
~ “It is Well With My Soul, by Horatio Spafford

Do you know the story of how this famous hymn came to be written?
Horatio Spafford was an affluent, upright lawyer and real estate tycoon in Chicago in the later 1800’s,
an ardent supporter of DL Moody. In 1871 the Great Chicago Fire wiped out a great deal of his property holdings,
other business holdings took a hit in 1873, and  having planned a European vacation with his wife and four daughters,
business kept him in Chicago as his wife and four daughters set sail on the SS Ville du Havre.
The ship collided on the high seas with another vessel and sank rapidly, taking the lives of many including— all four Spafford daughters.
His wife sent him a now famous telegram: Saved alone…
As he sailed to join his wife,
the captain of his ship let him know as they passed over the area where the tragedy occurred,
and in the throes of overwhelming grief,
He penned the lyrics to a divinely given hymn, which opens with that stanza above.
Later his own Presbeterian church would blindly label his many tragedies as
divine judgement against him, he left the Presbyterian Church , forming his own messianic Christian movement,
moving he and his wife, and two more daughters born after the previous tragedies
(his son Horatio Jr died at four of scarlett fever), to the Ottomam Empire-and formed the American Colony,
helping many locals and gaining the trust of residents of all religions for many years.

It wasn’t Spafford’s strength that carried him through the tragedies he was dealt, it was his weakness perfected in grace-

It was the grace of our Savior.

“He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
~
 2 Corinthians 12:9

Although I have had more than my share of trials, as many of us have had,
they don’t compare with Mr. Spafford’s and I hope they never do.
Most of us, I daresay, live safe and secure lives in relative ease, but regardless of this,
I pen this to say to you, to myself,
that we need to..we must-remember – that God alone is our strong tower.
It is under His wings alone we find comfort,
even as the nations rage, even when illness strikes us, even when,
especially when things happen to which we can find no remedy or answer to.
I am reminded of, and so I remind you- the Almighty God is the Sovereign Master of the Universe,
but yet He has time for us,
He know us intimately.
There is no reason to try to cover anything in our lives from Him- nothing can be hidden, try as we may.
And yet in spite of dark thoughts and our sinful natures, He loves us with a furious, fiery love that can’t be quenched.
Think about that; and now come full circle, asking yourself, as I ask myself here:
Is there any reason why we should not have that “peace like a river”, a peace that defies understanding?

It is well with my soul.

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