The Story Behind "It Is Well with My Soul"
How a man who lost almost everything wrote one of the most peaceful hymns the world has ever known.
Horatio Spafford was a successful Chicago lawyer in the late 1800s. He had a beautiful wife, Anna, four daughters, and a son. By every earthly measure, his life was full.
Then it wasn't.
In 1870, his only son died of scarlet fever at the age of two. A year later, the Great Chicago Fire wiped out his real estate investments along the shore of Lake Michigan. Almost overnight, the Spaffords went from comfortable to ruined.
Two years later, hoping to give Anna and the girls a much-needed change of scenery, Horatio booked passage for his family on a ship to Europe. At the last moment, business kept him behind. He sent Anna and his four daughters ahead, planning to follow in a few weeks.
The ship, the Ville du Havre, was struck by another vessel in the middle of the Atlantic. It sank in twelve minutes. All four of his daughters drowned.
Anna survived. When she reached Wales, she sent a telegram to Horatio that began with two devastating words:
"Saved alone…"— Anna Spafford, telegram from Wales, 1873
Horatio boarded the next ship to Europe to meet his wife. When the ship passed over the spot where his daughters had died, the captain came and told him. Horatio went to his cabin. And there, on that wave of grief, he picked up a pen and wrote:
"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."— Horatio Spafford, 1873
It is well with my soul. Not "I feel fine." Not "this doesn't hurt." But "my soul is at peace, because my soul knows where it's going."
That's what Grandpa meant when he said he was in the forever business. The pain of this world is real. The losses are real. But our soul belongs to something that the deep sea can't touch.
It is well. It is well. With my soul. ♥