Life as a Christian Woman

It Is Well With My Soul
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.

Refrain:
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.

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!

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.

Horatio Spafford

I admit it. My favorite part of church is singing. I love the old hymns and the new music. Christian music can touch me so deeply, so personally. It can lift me up and enrich my relationship with God.

One hymn in particular has long been a favorite of mine, “It is Well With My Soul” by Horatio Gates Spafford. Spafford was a successful attorney in Chicago in the mid-1800’s, with a strong faith in God. But that faith was soon to be tested.

In 1871, his only son passed away (he also had four daughters). Soon after, a terrible fire struck Chicago, and the city was ravaged by the flames. In all, 300 people died and another 100,000 were homeless. Spafford was ruined financially, as he had invested much of his money in the downtown Chicago real estate market. Yet he spent the next two years trying to help the people of Chicago get back on their feet, assisting the homeless, poor, and grief-stricken.

About two years after the fire, Spafford decided to take his family to England to join evangelist Dwight Moody, who was a close friend. There, the family planned to go on one of Moody and Ira Sankey’s crusades, then travel in Europe. But when the time came to board the ship, Spafford had to stay behind due to business. His wife, Anna, and four daughters (Maggie, Tanetta, Annie, and Bessie) would go ahead and he would join them later.

The ship, the Ville de Havre, collided with an English sailing ship (the Loch Earn) off the coast of Newfoundland, and sank in only 20 minutes. While his wife survived after clinging to a piece of wreckage, all four Spafford daughters were lost.

When she arrived in Cardiff, Wales, Anna sent her husband a telegram containing only two words… “saved alone.”

Spafford immediately left for Europe to be with his wife. While aboard the ship, the site where the Ville de Havre sank was pointed out to him. Upon reaching England and meeting up with Dwight Moody, he told his old friend softly, “It is well the will of God be done.”

Although it is not known exactly when he penned the words to “It is Well with My Soul, ” it was during this time of grief and prayer that the words came to life. The words caught the eye of Phillip Bliss, who was a composer. Shortly thereafter, Bliss wrote the music for the poem and published it in one of the Sankey-Bliss Hymnals, Gospel Hymns No. 2.

When listening to the hymn, what jumps out is the obvious fact that Spafford, while acknowledging the pain and suffering, didn’t dwell on them. The third verse talks of God’s redemption through Christ, and the fourth is a stanza of victory, anticipating Christ’s triumphant return. Imagine… through his own pain and suffering, Spafford takes us through a lifetime in one song, ending with Christ returning for us!

The song has long been a favorite of ministers, from Billy Graham to Martin Luther King. It has been sung for well over 100 years in churches around the world, and is often sung at funerals.

These words, written in pain and suffering, will live forever, as long as Christians have a voice.