Today is hard. Dear friends and family in Oregon are undergoing the most difficult circumstances. Their bodies are all failing; their battles are in different stages. One nears heaven rapidly and will leave a wife and 4 children; one sees the end approaching--probably within months--and does not have a firm grip on the Savior; one sees an agonizing deterioration before her time to be with Jesus and a husband and 3 children walk with her. The last chapter of their physical lives looks to be very hard for all three.
What can I do? Pray. How can I help? Pray. Where is comfort? That God has promised that my prayers are effective to help. Our faith is in Christ alone, and He is Victorious over death and the grave.
Thank You, Lord of all mercies, that I can do that for them.
IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul, It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul, It is well, it is well, with 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!
It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul, It is well, it is well, with 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.
It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul, It is well, it is well, with 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!
Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of my soul!
It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul, It is well, it is well, with 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.
It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul, It is well, it is well, with my soul.
This hymn was written after two major traumas in Horatio Spafford’s life. The first was the great Chicago Fire of October 1871, which ruined him financially (he had been a wealthy businessman). Shortly after, while crossing the Atlantic, all four of Spafford’s daughters died in a collision with another ship. Spafford’s wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, “Saved alone.” Several weeks later, as Spafford’s own ship passed near the spot where his daughters died, the Holy Spirit inspired these words. They speak to the eternal hope that all believers have, no matter what pain and grief befall them on earth.
(Above, from www.cyberhymnal.org)
