It is Well

The hymn "It is well with my soul" was written in 1873. It is a beautiful hymn with inspiring words but what makes the words that much more inspiring is the story behind why he wrote the words. 
The author is Horatio Spafford.   He wrote the hymn  af­ter two ma­jor trau­mas in his life. The first was the great Chi­ca­go Fire of Oc­to­ber 1871, which ru­ined him fi­nan­cial­ly (he had been a weal­thy bus­i­ness­man). Short­ly af­ter, while cross­ing the At­lan­tic, all four of Spaf­ford’s daugh­ters died in a col­li­sion with an­o­ther ship. Spaf­ford’s wife Anna sur­vived and sent him the now fa­mous tel­e­gram, “Saved alone.” Sev­er­al weeks lat­er, as Spaf­ford’s own ship passed near the spot where his daugh­ters died, he was inspired to write the words to this hymn.  They speak to the eter­nal hope that all be­liev­ers have, no mat­ter what pain and grief they have  on this earth.

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.

Chorus

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.

Chorus

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!

Chorus

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.

Chorus

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!
Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of my soul!

Chorus

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.

What words we all should strive to live by.  I can't imagine having lost all that this man had lost.  Even though he lost his children and his fortune he still found the Peace of God and stood steadfast and said It is all well with my soul God.  What strength that took. What a steadfast faith that took to stand in the midst of it all and say, God, no matter what, I am with you and you have made it all well with my soul.
I pray that God gives me that same kind of steadfast faith. Is it well with you soul? It is well with mine!