Even So...

A Nate Post...

We pulled ourselves out of bed on Sunday and went to Church (Yucaipa Christian Church). It was good to see our pastor, hear our good friend Danny Thompson preach and worship together. One of the songs that we sang together was the classic hymn "It is Well With My Soul" by Horatio Spafford in 1879. He penned this song after suffering in ways that I can't even imagine (his son dies, his business burns down and a year later his 4 daughters die when their ship sank at sea). Here's a portion of the song he 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.

(Refrain:) It is well (it is well),
with my soul (with my soul),
It is well, it is well with my soul.

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.

I have sung and read the lyrics to this song many times in my life but this week the last verse of this song stood out to me. He essentially is asking God to hurry up and return. He can't wait to see God face to face. Yet the part that grabbed me was the line "Even so, it is well with my soul." I might be missing something or even reading into what he was trying to express but it seems that he is saying something like "I can't wait for the promise of heaven but 'even so' I can find "wellness" here in my relationship with God and others..." He is proclaiming God's goodness in His Kingdom, here and now, even in the midst of a deep pain...a life long pain.

In the past few weeks I have seen THIS T-shirt a couple of times and frankly, it depresses me. Like many I know, for me this was ultimately the goal of my life growing up...to get to heaven. While I might have talked about relationship and being Christ's disciple, it was more about just getting through it all so I can experience heaven. Over the years and study of the Scriptures, I have come to believe that we do have this amazing promise of heaven but Jesus came so that we can experience real life (John 10:10). A life here on earth where we love Him, follow Him and live out this relationship with him now. It's not about "getting off this rock" but experiencing this life that God has set up before us, both the good and difficult experiences. I believe this is what motivated Horatio to say "it is well". God is present. God is complete, whole and is the only one that can bring true wellness to our lives.

I write all of this as a reminder to myself that while this has been a difficult period of our life, I can truly say "it is well with my soul".

Thanks again for your continued prayer, support and care for my amazing wife!

Nate