Consider this hymn:
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.
Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
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 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!
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
But Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.
And Lord, haste the day when my 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.
Horatio Spafford penned these words after the tragic loss of his daughters when the ship they were on crashed and sank. In a time where life was at its roughest he was able to say it is well with my soul.
In Job chapter 1 we find a man Job whom the bible declares is “blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” Everything seems to be going well for Job when all of the sudden he is hit with all the earthly tragedies one could imagine. he loses his livestock, servants, and all of his children. The last verse in the chapter says that he never sinned by blaming God. Throughout the rest of the book we see Job working through his tragedy while never blaming God and always loving Him despite what others told him to do.
In life we face all kinds of trouble and heartache and it is what we do in these moments that define us. Job remained resolute in his faith no matter what happened to him, he models to us a life that we should live. This way of living begins with perspective, we must realize that life is not about us but about the glory of the LORD. When we look at the scriptures we see that they are truly a story of God’s glory. In each story, no matter the outcome, God is glorified!
So what does this mean for us? We must live our lives with the perspective that God is in control and deserves the glory no matter what happens in our lives! We do experience tragedy in our lives but those tragedies can be used to bring God glory, just as Job glorified God by never wavering in his faith.
No matter what you are going through God is in control! The LORD bless you, and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you, and be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.
Peace and Love!
