It Is Well
“Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”
At times life seems to be going just great. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, we hit every green light and everything in the world seems just perfect. And sometimes it seems like everything is falling apart around us. Being a Christian means that we trust God through the good and the bad. We have an outstanding example in Job, who lost everything he had, and still remained faithful. I wonder at times if I would be able to say what he said after losing so much and enduring so many trials.
I’m reminded of the hymn “It Is Well”, which is one of my favorites, because it emotes this sentiment exactly.
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”.
The more serious our problems become, the harder it gets to say “it is well” with confidence. When we are in physical, emotional, or spiritual pain, we don’t feel very “well” at all. The hardships of life are uncomfortable and often times downright painful. We don’t need to diminish the pain that we feel going through these things. They can hurt, a lot. But the God of the universe holds us in His hands, and we can trust that whether good comes, or adversity, He loves and cares for us (Psalm 36:7, 100:5, the entire Psalm 136). That truth can provide some comfort for us during the hard times we face.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written: “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39, NASB
We are children of the Almighty God. We are loved by Him. Nothing can separate us from His love, and through Him we can conquer.
It is well.
From the archives | Originally published 01.14.2015