Day Thirty Eight - It is well with my soul

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:

If Jordan above me shall roll,

No pain shall be mine, for in death as in life

Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

Horatio Gates Spafford (1828-1888)

This year has taken so much from many of us. One source of inspiration for me in difficult times has been the hymn ‘When peace like a river’, written by H. G. Spafford in 1876. Each verse starts with a different challenge which we might encounter in our lives; trials, sin, even drowning. Yet, the refrain reminds us that through Christ is it well with our souls.

For those who don’t know the full life story of Horatio Gate Spafford you might need to have tissues on standby.

In September 1861 he married Anna Larsen in Chicago. He was an accomplished and well-respected lawyer and the family were linked with Presbyterian evangelist Dwight L. Moody. In 1871 he was rocked, firstly by the death of his four year old son (my son has only just turned three and the world is still full of things to explore for him, so this really resonates with me), secondly he invested heavily in property in a suburb of Chicago which was completely destroyed in the ‘Great Fire’ that year, almost bankrupting the family.

Two years later, the whole family: Horatio, Anna and their four daughters were booked to travel to England on the steamship Ville du Havre. Late changes to his working schedule meant that Horatio was forced to send his family ahead of him with plans for him to travel on a later vessel.

The Ville du Havre never reached its destination, it was struck by another ship in the Atlantic, with the loss of 226 souls. Only his wife survived, and arriving in England, was able to send back to her husband the words ‘saved alone’. On board his own boat across the ocean he replied, ‘It is well with my soul.’ From that a well-known hymn grew. Watery imagery is scattered throughout the verses, an eerie echo of what had been taken from them. Yet through all the buffeting and rolling rivers, the billowing seas, Christ whispers His peace into our souls.

In 2 Kings we find the story of the Shunammite woman, whose son dies. She travels to where the prophet Elisha is, and when one of this attendants approaches her has only this to say: “Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well”.

(2 Kings 4:26 KJV)

She does not weep nor wail, she takes herself to the prophet and explains herself to him, accepting that all that she does and all that will be done is as the Lord wills it.

So, when this fleeting world presents us with times of trouble, let us have the peace of Christ in our hearts. Peace be with all of you throughout Advent.

Oliver Kinchin