Peace Like A River

Peace Like A River

When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll . . .

WHEN 1871 dawned, Horatio Spafford was a happy man. His wife and four young daughters were a source of great joy and comfort. His real estate holdings in downtown Chicago were paying off handsomely with the city’s rapid growth. Then in April of that year, the Great Chicago Fire consumed his real estate. But Spafford took comfort in the fact that his family had escaped the fire.

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

“It is well, it is well with my soul.”

The Spaffords’ loss was cushioned by a deep belief in the sovereign hand of God. They were friends of Dwight L. Moody and had supported several of his crusades.

Though Satan should buffet, tho’ trials should come . .

In 1873 the Spaffords were overjoyed with the birth of their first son. But the boy lived only a short time. When the Spaffords buried his body, charred ruins still loomed over the cityscape. Chicago—and Spafford’s business prospects—had barely begun to recover from the fire.

Let this blessed assurance control,

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,

And has shed His own blood for my soul.

God seemed to offer the Spaffords a much needed rest from the accumulated sorrow of their recent years. They had the opportunity to go to Europe to assist Moody with his next evangelistic campaign. While overseas they would not only be able to share the love of Christ but be able to visit the Holy Land. Their destination was Jerusalem, the very city where Christ’s blood had made atonement for the sins of all those who would believe in him.

Just before Thanksgiving that year Horatio Spafford put his wife and daughters on the Ville du Havre, a ship bound for Europe. Business delayed his own departure, but he planned to follow in a few days.

Spafford awoke a week later to a horrible headline in the papers: The Ville du Havre had been struck by another ship in the mid-Atlantic and had sunk. There was no initial word of any survivors. Then on December 1, 1873, Spafford received a telegram from his wife: “Saved. Alone.”

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.

Spafford boarded the next ship for Europe. The words of a poem that was forming in his head were on his heart as he passed over the watery grave of his four daughters, citizens now of the heavenly Jerusalem:

“Even so”—it is well with my soul.

In the years to come Spafford and his wife made their permanent home in Jerusalem, where God blessed them with a second family of children. There they developed a ministry to the people who did not know the reality of Christ’s peace like a river.

Reflection

When “sorrows like sea billows roll” in your life, as they have a way of doing, do you have “peace like a river”? Horatio Spafford’s words were born out of a profound trust that God’s purpose in his life was perfect. And God has a purpose just as real for each believer’s life. No matter how bad things get, the believer can have peace, knowing that God is in control and that his will for us is best.

The Lord rules over the floodwaters. The Lord reigns as king forever. The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace.

Psalm 29:10-11