Peace Like a River

The following information was copied from www.erasofelegance.com.

In our modern age of uncertainty, anxiety and often fear, we can be encouraged by words of the beloved and timeless hymn, "It is Well with My Soul." Written during a tumultuous time in Horatio Gates Spafford's life, the hymn continues to provide peace and comfort in the midst of struggle. Spafford was born in 1828 and spent his early years in New York. He later moved to Chicago and became a successful lawyer and businessman. Spafford was also a deeply religious man, active in his Presbyterian church as a Sunday School teacher and lay servant, as well as in the Young Men's Christian Association. Beginning in the 1870s, Spafford's faith was tested by a series of tragic events. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed real estate located along the shores of Lake Michigan, which comprised a tremendous portion of the Spafford's investments. In 1873, a physician counseled the Spaffords to take a vacation for Mrs. Spafford's health and the family's well-being. Knowing that a dear friend, Dwight L. Moody would be preaching in an evangelistic tour in England, the Spaffords decided to leave for a vacation in England. Subsequently, Spafford's wife, Anna Lawson Spafford, and their four daughters-Maggie, Tanetta, Annie, and Bessie-boarded an American ship named the S.S. Ville du Havre. Detained due to business, Mr. Spafford stayed behind but intended to follow his family in a few days.
On November 22, 1873, the S.S. Ville du Havre, sailing off the coast of Newfoundland, was struck by an English ship, the Lochearn. The Ville du Havre sank in twelve minutes. Two hundred and twenty-six lives were lost, including the Spaffords' four daughters. After hours of floating in the turbulent waters, Mrs. Spafford was rescued. Arriving in Wales, she cabled her husband with the message, "Saved alone." Receiving the horrifying news, Spafford left immediately to join his wife. He asked the captain of the ship on which he was sailing to notify him when they approached the approximate area where the Ville du Havre went down. Notified that the area was near, Spafford went down into his cabin, and near the scene of his daughters' tragic deaths, penned the words of "When Peace Like a River," better known today as "It is Well with My Soul." The hymn refers to Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." The Spaffords eventually met up with Dwight Moody. "It is well," Spafford told him quietly, "the will of God be done."
The words of Spafford's beloved hymn follow:

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."
It is well with my soul It is well, it is well with my soul.

Thou Satan should buffet, tho' 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, it is well with my soul.

My sin... O, 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.

And Lord, haste the day when the 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, it is well with my soul.

When I say the word "peace," I can't help but think of an afro-haired, dope-smoking hippie with a tie-dyed shirt and large, round sunglasses. Is that bad? I think the hippies were on to something. Not so much the dope and dress, but the search for a state of mind void of conflict, tension and fear. Here's the problem...you'll never find true peace through a drug induced euphoria. You might have a wonderful, relaxing evening full of statements like, "What the Hell? and Who cares?," but after years of this kind of so called peace you wake up one morning and realize you've fried one too many brain cells, you've got a precription for Valtrex and a teenager shows up on your doorstep and says, "You must be my Father."

True peace is not found in trying to be in control of every aspect of your life or allowing your state of mind to be determined by daily context of your life. We love to say, "God is in control" until his control lets us down and doesn't line up with our plans for his control. We quote Jeremiah 29:11 which speaks of God having a plan for our lives, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future. The problem is that we don't understand what "prosper" looks like and we equate "harm" with any kind of pain or difficulty and we get all discombobulated because God promised and he's breaking that promise because we're going through a difficult time. I bet there's a lot of children who are feeling harmed when their parents crack their butt because they didn't look both ways before they crossed the street. Do the parents love the child? How could a loving parent deliberately cause their child pain? Could it be that pain/discipline is the only way to get the child's attention and lead that child into a safer, more prosperous future?

Here's the rub. Did God cause the ship the Spafford's were travelling on to sink to somehow teach the father a lesson or discipline him in some way? I don't think so. But I do know that God was faithful in the midst of that tragedy. In the storm of great grief God showed up throught the power of the Holy Spirit. Peace like a river flowed through him and ministered to him as he grieved the loss of his daughters and dealt with his inability to pull his grieving wife into his arms and care for her because they were seperated by the Atlantic Ocean. So, why did God allow it to happen? I don't know. Could be the result of a fallen and hurting world struggling with the pains of labor, waiting to give birth to a world without sin. Could have been the result of two prideful captains neither of which were willing to give the other the right-of-way. Children die everyday as a result of their parent's sin. Is it the punishment of God? No, it's a cause and effect relationship. If you pee into the wind, you're probably going to get wet (unless you're wearing a rain suit).

The biggest thing that wrecks our peace is an unwillingness to trust God. The birds of the air said to the lilies of the field, "Why do you think those humans worry and fret so much?" To which the lilies of the field replied, "Because they must not have a loving Father in heaven as we do to take care of them." We have a loving Father, but do we trust him? Are we more concerned about the things of this world, that our concern and allegiance is here rather than in heaven where it should be? Is that why we have so much difficulty living by faith and not by sight? Is that why we smoke a joint or do a shot instead of taking our life to the Lord in prayer?

Romans 15
13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.