It Is Well

Please run now to meet her, and say to her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’ ”
And she answered, “It is well.”

2nd Kings 4:26 NKJV

In the natural realm, it was not well. Her son was dead. However, she had set her face like flint - with unwavering determination to accomplish the task of reaching the prophet, prophesying over her situation, "It is well." And God made it so.

Fast-forward to our 19th Century Job - Mr. Horatio Spafford - who lost his fortune and his 4-year-old son to fever and a year later, his four daughters to shipwreck. He couldn't fly to be with his bereft wife within a day, but rather had to board another ship that would take a minimum of 3 weeks before reaching his wife's side. In the middle of the weight of his grief and sorrow, he penned the words to one of the most well-known hymns, "It is well." 

One lived. One died. Both wrought the same response, "It is well." How can that be? Relationship. You have to KNOW Who your Savior is: beyond the superficial, way down DEEP. Then when life overwhelms you, you can say with conviction, "It is well with my soul."

Prayer:

Father,

           We pray a part of Shelly Duffer's prayer - It is the assurance that You see and know and regard my estate that controls my fear. It is in the knowing that You shed Your blood for my sins. My sins. My numerous, numerous sins. You provide specific consideration. You consider my helplessness. My need for Your sacrifice. My inability to ever pay the debt that I owe. And this is blessed assurance. This is confidence. God, please. Grant me the grace of confidence that I am Yours. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Lyrics in full:

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, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath 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 the 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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvq3pYsHidA

Victory is the Lord's *

Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 
Romans 12:15 NLT

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5:4 KJV

You may have followed my posts about Baby Asa - who just last month was declared cancer-free! Praise God! Tonight, his mother wrote about young Caroline, who next to Asa, is the one for whom she most requested prayer. Mimi Barreras is an incredible writer. Her blog site graceinspades.blogspot.com is just exactly that - Grace in Spades. I am sharing her post as the Promise for Today because what better promise do we have than Christ laid down His life to redeem ours and to set us free? 

Many of you who have been along for Asa’s big, long journey, know that there are a lot of sweet people, docs, nurses, volunteers, patients, and families that we have gotten to know along the way. You just can’t help it.   We are very sad to report that our precious friend, sweet saint, Caroline, the one that we probably reported on most, requested prayer for most, lost her battle with leukemia yesterday.  We celebrate in ways as she is free, free from the pain and torturous treatments, the ups and downs of chemo and pits of side-effects, finished forever with the days of trying to survive being a teen and living like a bubble kid, day after day of needing transfusions.  We celebrate that she was born again and is with her Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ and enjoying every minute of a new and perfect body and all the freedom and joy in His presence.  How exciting!  We sorrow with her family who loved and encouraged her (and us!) so and fought so hard.  Caroline’s presence influenced so deeply all of those who met her.  She was a funny and delightful kid who just gleamed a holy content whenever you saw her, pain or not. 

Clearly, we ask for prayer for Caroline’s family.  I know families with cancer grieve as they go, but when cancer has been your life, when all is said and done, no matter the outcome, you are sort of left not knowing what to do.  Please pray for Caroline’s family.  I know they want her memorials to reflect Jesus.  Pray for her siblings as they are released to the next thing in their lives.  Pray for her parents, that they adjust back to civilian life well now that the battle is done.  It’s hard, so hard.  Pray long term.  It’s a rest of the life, until eternity adjustment.

This past weekend I went to my son’s college choir concert.  It was a hymn concert in 4-part+ harmony, featuring many old classics and their histories, standing room only with overflow out of the concert hall.  I was struck by the truth of it all.  I have a partiality to old doctrinal hymns, even though I learned that some in particular were scandalously modern when they were written.  I think they bleed timeless into history though, even the boat-rocking ones, because they are just so chuck full of restated Scripture.  Mid-concert, the choir sang Spafford’s “It Is Well with my Soul.”  As I stood in the back, just outside the door of the hall, I thought of Caroline. 

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,


Let this blest assurance control,


That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,


And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

I knew it was close.  The end.  The new beginning.  Even with good reports, we all knew.  You are weighing in one hand the need for the unheard of miracle, the Master’s touch and in the other, the truth of Psalm 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”   You don’t really know how the scales will weigh.  You are not out of time, but stuck in the dead present, thinking you know the best solution, and, quite simply, we don’t.

We only get the last two lines.  We have been regarded by the Maker of heaven and earth, the Savior of the world.  That’s all we’ve got.  All anybody has.  All anyone can rejoice in, that we have been regarded and bought with His precious blood.

So, for today, we sorrow, but we can also easily and joyfully state that it is well with Caroline and for that, we are truly grateful and even excited.  Praise the Lord, Oh my soul!

If you are not familiar with “It is Well with my Soul,” the full lyrics are here:

http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/It_Is_Well_with_My_Soul/  And better yet, if you don’t know the history behind this hymn, check it out here.  What a story! http://www.sharefaith.com/guide/Christian-Music/hymns-the-songs-and-the-stories/it-is-well-with-my-soul-the-song-and-the-story.html

Prayer:

Father,
          Comfort as only You can in times like these! Surround Caroline's family and circle of friends with Your love and Your peace. Cause the rest of us to be aware of those around us who need to feel Your touch through our hands extended. A fresh anointing of compassion, Father, this we pray. In Jesus' Name. Amen