One of my favorite old hymns is, “It is Well With My Soul.” Here are the first 2 verses:
When peace like a fiver 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.”
Tho’ Satan should buffet, tho’ trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul. It is well, with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul.
As we consider these words, we can see that no matter what we are going through, whether it is good times or sorrowful times, we can say, “It is well with my soul.” Even when Satan buffets us, or the trials come, we can be sure that Christ knows all about our plight. And the great truth about it all is because Christ loves us, He shed His blood for us and that is why (as a child of God) we can say, “It is well with my soul.” No matter what!
The third verse of the song tells us what we have to look forward to:
And, Lord, haste the day when the 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.
Praise the Lord for what’s ahead!
But the big question is: Is it well with your soul?
Always a favorite hymn but even more now Knowing that Horatio Spafford wrote “It is Well With My Soul” After the tragic loss Suffered by Mr. Stanford and his wife and all of their children in two separate accidents–the last four children all perished in a storm at sea.
Just because I’ve had a particularly difficult year, knowing that someone was able to pull some such depth of spiritual understanding out of such a terrible loss…It pushes me to realize that God is sufficient to every single mean even when circumstances are just unbearably dire.
but then as you’ve often reminded me, he was 11 is yet another “list of stories “in the Bible of just plain ordinary people who had faith in God. They were all just normal but with extraordinary faith.
I have to be honest and admit that I am also comforted by the fact that the only woman mentioned in Hebrews 11 was Rahab the Harlot!!! That God thought enough of her to mention her again as a testament to her faith. It completely dispels any notion that God only mentions specially equipped seats with that kind of faith because the world knows forever and ever that it wasn’t just Rahab that was mentioned, but that she was a known harlot… But one did what God told her to!! I am a set my eyes to do no less.