Joseph’s life was not
easy, not peaceful, not fair. He was
sold into slavery by his own brothers!
He was thrown into prison on false charges! Yet, he did not become bitter, he did not let
regret take over, he knew that God was in control and had a purpose for
everything.
I was recently in a
situation, in a place where I was not being treated fairly, kindness and
courtesy were non-existent – communication had been cut down to the bare
minimum, the tension in this situation and place was thick – it was
hard!!! I was sick to my stomach most
days, I was not sleeping well, I had many nights of tossing and turning, the
struggle was real my friend. Have you
ever been in that place? You try to fix
it, you try to flee from it, you reason that surely you can control it,
fairness must exist, yes??
The hymn, “It is Well with
my Soul” was penned by a husband and father named Horatio Spafford. He wrote this hymn after several traumatic,
unfair events took place in his life.
First his 2 year old son dies, then he is ruined financially in the
Great Chicago fire of 1871. He later
decides to take his wife and four daughters on vacation to Europe, he sends
them ahead of him on the ship, planning on coming behind them after attending
to some business. This ship wrecks, all
four of his daughters died. His wife
Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram “Saved Alone”. Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to
meet his grieving wife. He was inspired
to write the words to this hymn as his ship passed near where his daughters had
died Spafford knew that life
might not be fair, but God is Just. He
says in this hymn “Though Satan should buffet, though trails should come, let
this blest assurance control, that Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, and
hath shed His own blood for my soul.”
Now I can look back at
that time and know that God made something good grow out of things that were
difficult and painful. God was in
control of my days, who was in them, where I was, what I was doing. He was using this very situation to
accomplish His plan for my life. The
truth for those of us that believe in God, is that nothing is wasted, not even
in the hardest, darkest times. It is
possible to know that what Satan meant to harm you, God intended it for good –
and today we can surely say……. It is Well with Our Soul!
Heavenly Father, Thank You for being the Captain of
our ship, the Author of our soul – that even when life is at it darkest and most
difficult, we can be assured that You are using it for good, you are
accomplishing Your purpose in our lives.
Thank you for the blood shed at the cross, that we may know the victory
has been won and we can say….It is Well with Our Soul! Amen
So true...Very powerful message!
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