Day Fourteen: Advent sings of peace: "It is well..." (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

(Saved Alone)

Day Fourteen: Advent sings of the peace: "It is well..."

1 Thessalonians 5:23 "May the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Horatio Spafford was born wealthy. He worked hard and in his own right was prosperous. He was senior partner of a prominent Chicago law firm and a successful real estate magnate. To the modern eye he lived a blessed life - that is until 1871 when modern people would say he was ruined.

In 1871 Horatio's son died of an illness and later that same year most of Chicago burnt to ashes in a great fire which destroyed most of Spafford's investments. Then in November 1873 he sent his wife and daughters to England to vacation - on November 22nd while crossing the Atlantic on the steamship Ville du Havre, his four young daughters (Annie (11yrs), Maggie (9yrs), Bessie (5yrs), and Tanetta(2yrs)) were among the 226 victims who drowned when the Ville du Havre, struck by another vessel, sank. On December 2nd his wife Anna, who had been pulled unconscious from the North Atlantic sent a telegram to Horatio: "Saved alone ... what shall I do ..."

To the modern eye Horatio Spafford's response was odd - He worshiped God! He thanked God and gave Him praise! He walked in peace. 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." This hymn has stood as a beacon reminding us of Christ's peace in all adversity for a century and a half.

John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." Jesus clearly says His peace is different from our modern concept of peace - it is a condition of the heart, an absence of anxiety and fear. Bad things happen yet Christ's peace persists always!

There is no record of complaint in Spafford's time of trial only the amazing expression of worship confident in God's peace. I pray this can be said of each of us as we respond to the ebbs and flows of life. I pray we seek Jesus constantly and so find the true peace found only in the Christ of Christmas.

... and so we return to where we started this week:

Isaiah 43:1-2 "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you."

(if your browser does not display two videos below please see them here - It is well with my Soul - Everlasting to Everlasting )

(It is well with my soul. MetroSingers, Hyattsville, MD)

From everlasting to everlasting there is Jesus ... in that certainty there is peace!

Everlasting by Brian Doerksen is one of my favourite songs of worship and proclamation: YOU are God!

A great way to end the week!