“IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL”
MERRY MONDAY- BY PARRIS BAILEY-
I was a new believer in the 70’s when the Christian movies “LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT” and “DISTANT THUNDER” came out. Those movies terrified me, I saw myself “taking the mark” when faced with the guillotine. I also read “FOXES BOOK OF MARTYRS” and that too terrified me. Fed to lions, burned at the stake, sawn asunder, and being used as human torches didn’t give me much hope. How could I ever stand up for my faith? But then in 1994 the Holy Spirit filled my heart in such a way that I finally saw how “the great cloud of witnesses” did it. I began to see the ministry of the Holy Spirit as a comforter, teacher and one that fights my battles. (He comes alongside each of us!) The Martyrs crossed over in their spirit into a supernatural realm who like Stephen, they were filled to overflowing. I began to experience this supernatural river in my life and still do, it has taken away my fear of the future and the “what if’s” in life.
JER. 17:7-8 says, “BLESSED IS THE MAN THAT TRUSTETH IN THE LORD, AND WHOSE HOPE THE LORD IS. FOR HE SHALL BE AS A TREE PLANTED BY THE WATERS, AND THAT SPREADETH OUT HER ROOTS BY THE RIVER, AND SHALL NOT SEE WHEN HEAT COMES, BUT HER LEAF SHALL BE GREEN, NEITHER SHALL CEASE FROM YIELDING FRUIT.”
Many of us have heard about this amazing song by Horatio Spafford. He wrote it when he lost four of his daughters in a shipwreck. What I didn’t know was before this tragic incident they had not only lost all their fortune in the “Great Chicago Fire” but had lost two sons as well. As he crossed the Atlantic where the ship sunk, Horatio wrote these words:
“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.”
His wife Anna was the only one that survived that shipwreck and in her terrible anguish she heard God say to her, “I have a purpose for you!” Soon after, Horatio and Anna left for Jerusalem as missionaries caring for the poor, the sick and the needy until their deaths. His song continues with; “Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let his blest assurance control, that Christ has regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed His own blood for my soul.”
What caused this couple from being another casualty? How does one overcome the death of 6 children and the loss of their fortune? By the grace of God, He comes to us and touches us in such a way that we taste heaven for ourselves.
“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.” AMEN!