The message of Horatio Spafford’s great hymn It is Well With My Soul has ministered to thousands of suffering souls through the years. One could wonder how such simple words could have such impact in times of great need.

Written with ink from a broken heart, these words look beyond the real and devastating sorrow of this life to eternity. They are grounded in the reality of the resurrection and fastened firmly in the character of our loving Father.

For you see, there is no answer to sorrow in this life. Even the Apostle Paul said, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (I Corinthians 15:19).  The pangs of grief are soothed only by the eternal love of God, Who holds his grief-stricken child in His arms as He unveils the glory of His future.

Horatio Spafford, in his great sorrow, caught a glimpse of this future.

May God help us see beyond today and glimpse it, too.

When peace like a river attended 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.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has 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, oh, my soul

And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll
The trumpet shall sound and the Lord shall descend
Even so, it is well with my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
Oh it is well, it is well with my soul

Romans 8:¹⁸ For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God.