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.
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, O my soul!
I imagine the writer of this hymn looking down on the waters where only weeks before his four daughters had drowned and were swallowed by the sea. I imagine him standing there, hearing only the peaceful sounds of the ocean while inside he hears the voices of his daughters, beautiful sounds that he will never hear again. Oh, how many tears must have rolled down his cheeks as the Spirit touched his heart and words slowly surfaced to his lips, "It is well with my soul."
How kind of God. How kind of Him to love us by experiencing the same feeling of loss in giving up His Son. Oh, the tears God must have cried as our sin was nailed through the hands of his Son! On a day when my heart feels the loss of saying goodbye and my eyes are wet with tears, my greatest comfort is at the cross where God made a way for us. Here, at the cross, I can hide and though I still cry many tears, there is a sweet peace that passes like a stream over my heart.
'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.' And he who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'
Revelation 21:3-5
I love to sing this hymn so much and I am so often overwhelmed as it fills up my heart. I was watching this video of it being sung in the last days before I left today and God used it to touch my heart. I hope it encourages you as well as you draw close and remember what Christ has done for us. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought...
6 comments:
Oh Patrick, I was thinking of you when we sang this song last week at Church! How encouraging to think that a man with such sorrow was truly comforted by THE Comforter. I pray you are feeling sustaining grace and comfort as you get under way. Please know that we are thinking of you, praying for you, and missing you already!
Love you!
Mrs. Smith for the fam
Hey Patrick, You do not know me but I have heard alot about you from my Aunt Jenny. She gave me your blog site and I really enjoyed reading some of your posts. I will be and have been praying for you while you are out to sea. If it is okay I would enjoy keeping up with your blog. I hope your having a great day, Billie
ckHi Billie, I will try to keep up with the blog as best I can while I'm out here. Thanks for the note and for your prayers. I am so thankful for them! Time is going to fly by and God is so faithful!
yo trick, i love your blog man. Its great keeping up with you through e-mail these past few days. It is Well is probably my favorite hymn, and I enjoyed reading your post about it.
Patrick,
This hymn brought me comfort when absolutely noone or nothing else could when we lost our 3rd child, John Thomas, during a very difficult pregnancy (- way back in 1982). It is still one of my favorite hymns. I am praying for you on this deployment, that you will have fellowship, not miss those who love you and vice versa too badly, and that you will be salt & light in a dark place. Oh, by the way, I'm going to be a grandma on or around Dec 24th. God has blessed Laura & Jason with a baby!!! love, Mrs. Walters
What Is Up Patrick! Its Caleb From Atl! (Smiths Cousin)! How r u Ramses? Its so funny, I was just going to write you and ask if you enjoy Matt Wertz, then I saw you had a entry on his cd. He's pretty good, (I just started listening to him). How is the cruise? I will miss you when we go to Va, and @ NA. I will be praying for you.
your friend, Caleb B.
Post a Comment