Saved Alone

Just about every Christian has heard or even sung the song written first as a poem by Horatio G. Spafford, “It Is Well With My Soul.” That wonderful old hymn came into being due to a tragic loss.

Mr. Spafford received a telegram from his bereaved wife about the lost of their four young daughters at sea due to shipwreck. Her message said, Saved alone.

On his way over to England to be with his wife, as the vessel passed over where the ship went down, it is said that Mr. Spafford penned the verses to the all too familiar song. The first verse says:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,When sorrows like sea billows roll;Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,It is well, it is well, with my soul.

How can someone in such tragedy and utter sorrow, say it is well with my soul? Dr. Spafford knew where the foundation of his faith came from. Even though his loss was profound, and his grief deep, he knew God, his Father.

I can’t help but believe that this man of God in the face of the unthinkable, was encouraged by the Word of God. The Word his life was based on. The Word he taught his children to believe in. The Word he now had to stand upon and declare.

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. . .Blessed is he whose help is in the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—the Lord, who remains faithful forever. Ps. 1461-2 & 5-6 niv.

God hasn’t promised that when we become a child of His everything will be good and wonderful. No, we are human, made of flesh and blood, and because of the sins of Adam and Eve, we are susceptible to the tragedies of this world. But when those tragedies do come, we don’t have to allow them to affect and rule our life or even steal our joy. We have a peace that passes all understanding. We have a heavenly Father that is touched by our infirmities. We have a Savior that will bear our burdens. If we trust in God our Father, when tragedy comes into our life, then we too can say, “It is well, it is well with my soul.”