It Is Well

 

  "It is well".

     The true meaning of these words must almost be experienced rather than understood...but there are few things that "it is well" does not mean.

     It is well doesn't mean everything in life is alright. It doesn't even mean that everything will be 'ok' someday. It is well doesn't speak of the absence of pain or promise that our circumstances will resolve themselves in a way that pleases us.

     Saying "it is well" is a choice. Choosing to live in those words means choosing to proclaim that light will win even when darkness seems to be prevailing.

     When Horatio Spafford penned the famous hymn It is Well with My Soul, the situations in his life were far from what any earthly mind would consider 'well'. He wrote the hymn while on a ship heading to England to meet his wife...the only survivor of a shipwreck that took the lives of his four daughters. It was with this unspeakable grief covering him that he wrote the words "When peace like a river attendeth my way//when sorrows like sea billows roll//whatever the cost, thou has taught me to say//it is well with my soul."

     This response is not a human response. Only divine intervention can break through the chains of extreme grief enough to bring the supernatural peace that Spafford was experiencing.

    Praising God when our emotions and situations don't line up with our expectations of His goodness is difficult to do; however, it is these times that are the true tests of faith. When believing doesn't come easy, we must choose to believe. It is during these times that we must hold intentionally to the truth of God's goodness.

     God's goodness is not dependent on our circumstances. God's goodness is not dependent on our emotions. When peace like a river flows through our lives, God is good, and when sorrow threatens to drown us in darkness, God is still good.

     When life is falling apart around us, we have two options. We can sink with the ship and drown in the denial, despair, depression, and anger that our circumstances bring with them. Or we can cling to the Lord as the sea billows swell around us and allow Him to lift us from the waves.

     Grief is real, and it's important to acknowledge and deal with those feelings (read The Mud of Grief). But proclaiming in our hearts and soul that "it is well" acknowledges a goodness and a power greater than ourselves. No matter what our earthly circumstances, the Lord is still good and He still loves and His will be accomplished. He is good. It is well.

     Amen.