A Song of Hope and Peace
We live in a time when many people don’t seem to have hope in this world. They are faced with illnesses, financial difficulties, housing difficulties, family issues, marital problems, age-related issues, and the list could go on and on. Our world seems broken with all of the national and international problems we see on the news. It seems as though many have turned their back on God, just like those Jews of old who did not obey God, but bowed down to idols.
There are times when I see and feel the pressures of this life, and even though I am a firm believer in God and His plan for my life, I can sometimes feel weighed down by all of the distractions around me. By the way, Satan loves it when that happens.
When all of these things in life get so heavy, I sometimes remember the words of one of my favorite songs, “It Is Well with My Soul.” As I sit and read those words, I can feel myself calming down, and once again the hope and peace provided by my Father in Heaven washes over me.
Let me share some of the words of this song with you, not because you aren’t familiar with it, but because I want you to underline in your minds what can give us hope in this life.
The author of this song, Horatio Spafford, does a masterful job in the first two verses of contrasting the good and the bad in life and then gives an uplifting message:
- 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.”
- Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come / Let this blessed assurance control, / That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed His own blood for my soul.
It’s at this point in the song that everything becomes uplifting. Often song leaders will lead verses 1, 2, and 4 of this song. What a shame that they miss out on that third verse which, in my opinion, is the most powerful and uplifting verse of all.
- 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.
And then comes that request for which we all should be asking:
- 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.
Then that repetitive chorus seals the message of the song:
- It is well – with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul.
No matter what you may be going through in this life, these words should bring the obedient and faithful follower a great measure of hope and peace.
AUTHOR: Donna Faughn
