WMA: It Is Well With My Soul

By Susie Edgar

Horatio Spafford, a Chicago attorney, had already suffered great loss in his life, when in 1874 his wife and four daughters boarded a ship for England. Just off the coast of Ireland, the ship sank. Stafford received a cable from his wife. It read, “Saved alone.”

As he traveled to England he penned the words, “Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul.”

About that time as a nation, we had come through a deep division in the Civil War. How people needed to be reminded that God was still sovereign and in control of their lives and destiny.

In the trials and heartaches we face today, never doubt that God is still sovereign and God is still in control. Never doubt that He sees and will repay your faithfulness.

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 the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh 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.”

Scripture — I Thess. 1:3; Gal. 2:26

Prayer — Pray back to God what He has said to you.

Respond — Write out the verses to this song meditating on each phrase.

— These articles are shared via the National WMA web page blog that can be accessed at nationalwma.org/blogs.