And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. – Romans 8:38
Millions have found comfort in the great gospel hymn It Is Well With My Soul. But many people don’t know the tragic story behind the composition of the hymn, a story of a soul finding peace in God even in the midst of grief and loss.
In 1871, a 43-year old Christian businessman named Horatio Spafford was hard hit by the great Chicago fire. Spafford had invested heavily in real estate along Lake Michigan, and the fire wiped out his holdings.
Only a short time earlier Spafford and his wife had suffered the loss of the their son. However, the worst was yet to come.
Two years later Spafford decided to take his wife and four daughters to Europe on vacation. But last-minute business kept Spafford at home in Chicago. He sent his family ahead on the ocean liner SS Ville du Havre.
Halfway across the Atlantic, an English vessel rammed the Ville du Havre and cut her in two. In the chaos that followed, Mrs. Spafford watched helplessly as her four daughters were swept overboard to their deaths. Within just twelve minutes the ship had sunk. The 226 survivors were taken to Wales. From there Mrs. Spafford cabled the terrible news to her husband. The cable consisted of just two words: “Saved alone.”
Spafford immediately set off for Wales to be with his wife. As his ship approached the mid-Atlantic, the captain pointed out the place where he thought the Ville du Havre had gone down. He looked out over the billowing waves that had taken the lives of his beloved daughters. Inspired by the sight, Spafford wrote the words of his now famous 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.
What an astounding sentiment! We can only imagine the grief he must have suffered, how he must have prayed and wept and searched for meaning in the tragedy. But in the end, he was able to affirm a deep faith that, for the believer, “it is well,” even in the face of great personal suffering.* Maranatha!
*Charles Colson with Anne Morse, “How Now Shall We Live?” Devotional for January 31.
