“And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding,

shall keep your hearts, your minds through Christ Jesus.”

(Philippians 4:7)

Can you imagine how it feels when my teacher tells me during class that my grandmother has just passed away and I need to go home right away? Do you know the feeling when I am at work and receive an urgent call, only to find out that my father is in critical condition, and I need to rush to be with him? Have you ever imagined the despair I'd feel when we briefly stop by the clinic before leaving for a trip, only hear the devastating news that my son is in late-stage cancer?

Horatio Spafford was a successful lawyer, businessman, and devout Christian who lived in Chicago in the late 19th century. He lost a fortune in the great Chicago fire of 1871. Around the same time, his beloved four-year-old son died of scarlet fever. Thinking a vacation would do his family some good, he sent his wife and four daughters on a ship to England, planning to join them soon. However, while crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the ship was involved in a terrible collision and sunk. All four of his daughters died. And his wife, Anna, survived the tragedy, sending a telegram: “Saved alone. What shall I do?” Spafford immediately set out to be with his grieving wife. While on the journey, Spafford wrote a poem that would later become one of the most beloved hymns of all time: "It is Well with My Soul."

Life can be so unpredictable. I know and experience that we cannot always say that everything is well in all aspects of our lives. There will always be storms to face, and sometimes there will be tragedies. How can we face such tragedies? By the unutterable, incomprehensible, irresistible and unavoidable, unimaginable and unconditional, ineffable, all-transforming, all beautifying Love of God in Christ.



Pastor Seok-Hwan

REFLECTION AND PRAYER:

"Take My Life, and Let it Be"

It is Well with My Soul

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 blest assurance control,

That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought—

My sin, not in part, but the whole,

Is nailed to His Cross, and I bear it no more;

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live;

If dark hours about me shall roll,

No pang shall be mine, for in death as in lifeIt Is Well - Austin Stone Worship Live

Refrain:

It is well with my soul!

It is well, it is well with my soul!

WORDS: Horatio G. Spafford 1873

MUSIC: Phillip P. Bliss 1876