Last week we sang ‘It is well with my soul’ in church. It’s not only a beautiful hymn but the story that sits behind it surely should remind us all of the reality and power of God!
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Horatio Spafford, a prosperous lawyer and devout Presbyterian elder, and his wife Anna were living comfortably with their four young daughters in Chicago. Two years after Horatio had lost most of his investment portfolio in the great fire of Chicago in October 1871, the family decided to vacation with friends in Europe. At the last moment Horatio was detained by business, and Anna and the girls, Annie, Maggie, Bessie, and Tanetta, went on ahead, sailing on the ocean liner SS Ville de Havre.
On November 21, 1873, the liner was rammed mid ship in the North Atlantic by a British vessel and sank within minutes. Anna was picked up unconscious, but the four children drowned. Sadly, this remained the most famous modern shipwreck until the sinking of RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912.
A fellow survivor of the collision, Pastor Weiss, recalled Anna saying, “God gave me four daughters. Now they have been taken from me. Someday I will understand why.”
Nine days after the shipwreck Anna landed in Cardiff, Wales, and cabled Horatio, “Saved alone. What shall I do?”
Horatio immediately left to bring his wife home. On the Atlantic crossing, the captain of his ship called Horatio to his cabin informing him they were passing the spot where his four daughters had perished. Horatio then wrote this hymn, still sung today, as he passed over their watery graves three miles deep.
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 has 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
It is well with my soul, It is well, it is well with my soul!
If you’re struggling with difficult days, why not seek out this hymn on the internet and sing it as a prayer to the one and only true God of Heaven, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
