Back to Basics

“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.’”

I remember my mom teaching me this hymn.  She played it from the green hymnal that always sat on our piano.  It quickly became a favourite and I remember searching the bulletin on Sunday mornings to see if it made that week’s set.  I loved the rich harmonies and the ladies’ echo in the chorus.  I think I was in High School when I heard a pastor recount the story of Horatio Spafford and the sad circumstances surrounding the birth of the hymn.  Hearing the traumatic events of his life (the loss of his infant son and then his four daughters) and realizing that after enduring such suffering he could pen the words “It is Well With My Soul” endeared me even more to this classic.

But it took me 36 (and a half!) years to realize what the song really means.

You see, I’ve always sung those words as a determined affirmation of God’s providence in light of unfavorable circumstances; a declaration of sorts that I will endure because He will carry me…because He alone is my adequate portion in spite of suffering.  And while all that remains true, I can’t believe how I’ve missed the bigger picture!

What got me thinking is a book I read last week entitled, “Living the Cross Centered Life” by C.J Mahaney.  It is a biblical and practical “how-to” that outlines the necessity of keeping the truth of the gospel at the forefront of our lives at all times.  Being humbled by genuine sorrow and repentance that comes from a constant awareness of our sin and marveling day after day at what an amazing gift we have been given – that our sin has actually been forgiven!  It’s the simplicity and power that comes from lingering daily at the foot of the cross.  My synopsis does it little justice, so you’ll just have to read it for yourself.

But I digress.  Back to the hymn that started this whole discourse.

As I stood in church last Sunday singing this oldie but goodie, I began to hear the lyrics through a different filter – a cross centered one.  “It is well…with my soul, it is well… it is well, with my soul!”  

 And suddenly I realized the deeper truth of what Mr. Spafford was saying.   

Whatever the circumstances; peace like a river or sorrows like sea billows…my soul is redeemed, thanks to the saving blood of Jesus!  I do not bear the punishment for my sin, I’m not responsible for the wages of it, and I no longer live under the curse of death! It’s more than the fact that God cares for me and will not abandon me through hardship…it’s that He loved me so much He let His own Son stand in my place, upon a cross that was meant for me. “It was MY SIN that held Him there, until it was accomplished!” And now, thanks to that work, I will live victorious on earth and someday spend eternity at His feet!  I deserve death, but I get life abundant.  It really is WELL with my SOUL! 

When was the last time that simple (and oft taken for granted) realization brought you to your knees in wonder, thanksgiving and heartfelt repentance?  I don’t know about you, but I plan to linger in that place for a while.  

It can’t be helped…one’s perspective on life’s sorrows and sea billows is forever changed when viewed from the foot of the cross.

“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!!”