"It is Well With My Soul"

James 5:7-11:
Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

  Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

To walk with the Lord, patience and suffering are "required classes, " he told us. On Sunday, we looked at the lives of the prophets, so many of whom were required to suffer as a testimony to the people of their time: Daniel, Jeremiah, Hosea, Elijah, Christ.

Suffering will come. Are we prepared? Are we grounded in His Sovereignty? Are our ears open to hear His Voice directing us through the storms? Will we praise Him? Job said, "Thou He slay me, yet will I hope in Him." Can we say that in the midst of the hardest trial of our lives? With a smile of peace on our faces?

Our pastor ended with the story behind the great old hymn: "When Peace Like A River." I had not heard it before. And it left its mark on my soul. 

Horatio Spafford, born in 1828 in New York, was a prominent lawyer in Chicago. He and his wife Anna had lost their four year old son, and then in the great Chicago fire of 1871 they were ruined financially. In 1873, Spafford decided to take his wife and four daughters to Europe, where his good friend D. L. Moody would be preaching in the fall. He sent Anna and their daughters on ahead of him on the SS Ville du Havre, he to follow shortly. The crossing was smooth and uneventful. Suddenly, with no warning there was a collision with another vessel. Anna saw three of her daughters swept away. She clutched their youngest with all her strength, but the sea swept her baby out of her arms. There was nothing she could do. Everything went black. When Anna awoke, she realized she had been rescued. She sent a telegram to Horatio, waiting anxiously for news, that said, "Saved alone." Horatio caught the next available ship, desperate to rejoin his wife. As the ship passed the spot on the ocean where the terrible tragedy had occurred, the captain announced their location. Horatio was literally traveling through the "valley of the shadow of death." He went to his room and penned the following words: 

"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."

In his time of greatest grief, Horatio knew His God was still in control. He knew that His God was still worthy of praise. "Thou He slay me, yet will I hope in Him." He refused to close his heart to his Father, though it was broken in pieces. He held his life open before the Lord, offering his all. Trusting that His Father would sustain. Trusting. Believing.

"When Peace Like a River"

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 blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded 

my helpless estate,
And hath 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!

For me, be it Christ, 

be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, 

for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper 

Thy peace to my soul.

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, 

for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! 

Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, 

blessed rest of 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. 

Refrain sung between after each verse:

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Notice this line in the first stanza: "Thou hast taught me to say, 'It is well, it is well with my soul." Horatio had spent time in the classroom of suffering. He had allowed the Lord to temper his heart so that he was able to walk through excruciating agony trusting fully in His Heavenly Father. He was serious about his Christianity. It was not simply a label he wore, it was a worldview through which he saw all of life. And, in the end, that is the only way we are able to walk along this earth, suffering loss and brokenness without turning our back on Him. We either believe in His Sovereignty or we don't. Either He is Able, or He is not. We cannot claim to trust in Him only when He "scripts our life" in a way that is pleasing to us. With Him, it has to be all. We have to hold nothing back. Not our homes, our lives, our even the lives of our precious children. Regardless of how black the dark night of the soul becomes, He is still worthy of all our praise and devotion. When we stand firmly on that foundation, we will, like Horatio, be able to say, no matter our circumstance, "It is well with my soul."