It is well with my soul.” One would
think Horatio G. Stafford, the author of this line that serves as title and
refrain of a hymn written in 1873, was peacefully in the midst of everyday life
circumstances. Yet, just the opposite is true. After suffering deep
personal loss at the death of his only son and financial setbacks, this
successful lawyer took his wife and four daughters to Europe to lift their
spirits and participate in an evangelistic campaign in Great Britain.
Before the return voyage, Mr. Stafford was detained by urgent business, so he
sent his family back to Chicago, planning to follow them shortly. Their
ship set out across the Atlantic; two British vessels struck the ship, and it
sank in 12 minutes. His wife was among the few survivors, but his four
daughters drowned along with 222 others.
“It is well with my soul.” This summed up his description of the sustaining
comfort God supplied to him as he crossed the Atlantic to join his wife in
Wales and passed over the approximate location where the previous ship had
sunk. The first verse goes into even more detail of his actual circumstances
and emotions:
When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows blow
Whatever
my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
'It is well, it is well with my soul.
It is well with my soul? How could this
possibly be true after a father experiences such loss? How could any “blest assurance control” in
the midst of one’s soul through his unimaginable loss? These were my questions about the title and
lyrics of this old hymn until the sudden death of my husband on August 15th,
2017. On what he indicated would be a
“short ride,” Jim suffered a massive heart attack as he was heading back home
and died suddenly.
Probably in
the next week, I told a close friend that I now understood how the writer of
this old hymn was able to pen such words, write such a refrain after
experiencing such deep loss. I, too, had
been given the assurance he spoke of that comes from a real, living faith in
Christ and His promises of eternal life for those who believe. There was peace in knowing Jim had a saving
faith, one that played itself out in so many ways each and every day.
“It is well
with my soul.” This doesn’t mean I am
not terribly sad or that I don’t miss him so many times throughout the
day. I’ve never lived alone before, but
then I am not really alone. The God of
all comfort has ministered mightily to me.
I am known by Him just as Jim was.
