It is well

Hope all is well.

I frequently end emails with the above line. It’s not out of habit or because I have nothing better to say. It’s entirely intentional and it pertains to a hymn we sung this Sunday at church: It Is Well With My Soul.

Horatio Spafford, an attorney in Chicago, sent his wife, Anna, and their four daughters – Tanetta, Maggie, Annie and Bessie – on a vacation to Europe in 1871, with plans to join them at a later date. Halfway across the Atlantic, the ship sank and all for of Spafford’s daughters drowned. Mrs. Spafford was among the few who were miraculously rescued. When she arrived in Europe, she telegrammed home, “Saved alone.” Weeks later, when Spafford left to join his wife, he stood on the deck of the ship, hour after hour. When the ship passed the approximate location where his beloved daughters perished, he was moved to pen the lyrics of this hymn.

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.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of 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 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.

Spafford knew his eternal place was secure. He knew he had hope – and not in the vague Hallmark sense we use today, but true certainty – that the sufferings of this earth, while bitter, raw and real, can never defeat with our peace in Christ. But I think this hymn is both a statement and reminder of that truth. That is, sometimes we experience “peace, like a river,” and other times “sorrows like sea billows,” but our rest comes in knowing that our soul is well, no matter the surrounding circumstances of our lives. I, for one, often need reminders for this to sink in.

So, when I sign “hope all is well,” it is a reminder to myself that all IS well, and an encouragement to you to remember the same. :)