I was in New York this weekend visiting my daughter and heard the story of Horatio Spafford in church (Redeemer). He is the author of the song It Is Well With My Soul. Perhaps you know his story, but after years of singing the song I did not. And like seeing a painting change before your eyes with a slight shift in your position, hearing the story behind the song has forever shifted the meaning of it in my mind.
Spafford was a wealthy Chicago attorney/real estate investor with a wife, four daughters and a son. In 1871 his son died at the age of four followed by the great Chicago Fire, which devastated him financially. In 1873 he was detained by business from an overseas voyage. His wife and daughters, ages 11, 9, 7 and 2, went without him. While crossing the Atlantic on the SS Ville de Havre, the ship collided with another ship and sank within minutes. All four of Spafford’s daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him a telegram, “Saved alone.”
Horatio boarded a ship out of New York to join his wife. At a certain point while crossing the Atlantic the ship’s captain sought him out and told him that they were passing over the place where the de Havre sank. And there he wrote It Is Well With My Soul.
Sitting in church, in New York, with my own daughters, I could not fathom such trust, peace and surrender in the face of such grief. Do I have a faith and understanding that could withstand such a trial? Would I pen such words or sink like the ship into the depths of dark despair? Is it well with my soul…Or isn’t it?
When peace like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know, It is well, it is well, with my soul…
