It is well with my soul.

Somewhere in time, in 1873, Horatio Spafford wrote the words to a hymn we still love today, It Is well With My Soul. I have been reading a book entitled, Then Sing My Soul, by Robert J Morgan.  In this book, he focuses on the people behind some of the best loved hymns of our time.  The story of this song always amazes me.

Horatio Spafford wasn’t a song writer. He was a business man and an attorney.  He owned real estate in Chicago, but in 1871 the Chicago fire burned most of his holdings.  He poured himself into helping Chicago rebuild, but at the same time his young son succumbed to scarlet fever and died. He must have felt like Job, he lost part of his fortune and one of his children.  He had a wife and four daughters remaining and they decided to get away for a little while.  A trip was planned to go to Europe.

As they were preparing to leave a urgent business matter kept Horatio in Chicago, but he sent his wife and daughters on. They boarded a ship called the Villa de Havre.  This was a ship that had made the passage to Europe from New York several times.  This was to be its last voyage. In the middle of the night, the ship collided with another ship and slipped into a watery grave. His four of his daughters died in the crash.  His wife was saved from the water clinging to a piece of wood from the wreckage.  She wired her husband, “saved alone.”

What happens when things go from bad to worse?  In the Bible, the story of Job chronicles one such story.  Job had all the good things the world can provide and he lost it all.

Job 6:1-2(a)  (NIV) “If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas…”

Life is not perfect, it has good times and it has bad times.  What we do in the bad times define who we are as people.  Do we do like Job’s friends suggested and curse God and die, or do we search for meaning in the midst of the pain.

Horatio took a boat to join his grieving wife in Europe.  When they got to the location where the Vila de Havre sank, the captain of his ship pointed it out for him. Horatio went to his cabin, but was unable to sleep, instead he uttered the words, “it is well with my soul”.  Later he wrote this hymn based on these words.

Psalm 34:19 (NIV) “A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.”

When trouble is all around, don’t focus on the trouble, look up and focus on God.  Only then can we truly say, it is well with my soul.

David Phelps and Wesley Pritchard - It Is Well With My Soul from emimusic on GodTube.

J Hudson Taylor

Somewhere in time, this week, May 21^st in 1832, J. Hudson Taylor was born.  He was born to Christian parents in Barnsley England.  As he grew up, his focus was on making money and having a good life.  His family wanted him to take his faith more seriously, but he didn’t feel that was necessary.  When he was seventeen years old, he found a gospel tract and the message on that tract caused him to rethink his choices.  He turned his life over to Christ from that moment on.

I found a few interesting stories about J Hudson Taylor.  As he was growing up, his father had a passion for reaching people in China with the gospel.  When Hudson became a Christian, he took up the cause.  Before heading out to the mission field, he decided to study medicine.  He went to work in a very poor section of London, for a very busy doctor.  The doctor would forget to pay him, regularly.  One day, he was a little low on funds. He had one silver coin in this pocket.  He didn’t want to ask the doctor for his wages, he wanted to trust the Lord.  He knew as a missionary, he would need to trust the Lord for everything.  He went to visit a widow, she was very poor and they were on the brink of starvation.  He was praying for her, but he felt like a hypocrite.  He had a silver coin, he could help them.  Even though he needed to pay his own rent, he gave his money to the woman. 

Philippians 4:19 (NIV) “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

Hudson learned to totally rely on the Lord for everything.  When he was twenty-one years old, he sailed for China and founded the China Inland Missions.  During his life, over eight hundred men and women would answer to call to serve in China. He had many opportunities to trust the Lord to provide all their needs and God never disappointed.

Here is another Hudson Taylor story.  When he was sailing to China, the ship he was on was heading towards a reef that would cause it to crash.  The current pulling it was so strong, the ship could not change course. They needed a wind to catch the sails and move the ship.  In addition to this, they could see the native cannibals on the beach with their lite torches, waiting for the crash in a pretty festive mood.  The Captain of the ship let them know that hope was lost.  Hudson and his traveling companions went below to pray for a miracle.  They believed God would send a wind.  When they instructed the sailors to ready the sails, the sailors thought they were crazy.  There were not crazy, God sent a wind out of nowhere that allowed the ship to steer to safety.

I think total surrender to God is sometimes hard.  We have more faith in what we can control.  It’s hard to give your last dime to someone in greater need when you remember your own debts and obligations.  It’s hard to believe that when you are on a collision course, God can step in and change it just because we asked.  God wants us to totally surrender, so He can be totally in control.

I believe that J Hudson Taylor is an example of someone who surrendered all and let God take control. If we had his measure of faith, image the mountains we could move through our faith.

For more information on J Hudson Taylor - http://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/biotaylor.html

Chris Tomlin - White Flag (Official Music Video) Passion 2012 from chris-tomlin on GodTube.

God is an Artist

Somewhere in time, last Saturday night, I went out to view the full moon. That particular day the moon was said to appear 14% larger than on other nights and 30% brighter.  It did seem larger, but the brightness really surprised me.  It reminded me again that God is an artist. 

When I was fourteen years old, I had a biology teacher in High School who asked the class who believed in creation.  A few of us raised our hands.  He then went on to tell us that by the end of the class, we would believe in evolution.  By the end of the class, I was more convinced than ever that God created the world.  It just makes more sense to me.  You can’t get something out of nothing and you can’t get order out of chaos. 

This teacher went on to explain how there was nothing but gasses in the universe and then the gasses collided and a big bang started the evolution process.  I do believe that God could put events into action that would cause the creation of something, but I think he put much more care into it than that.  Genesis starts with God creating light.  He doesn’t need light, but we do.  God created sky, God then separated land from the water.  I won’t go through all seven days, but it’s clear that He had a plan. It’s clear He had a sequence of events happening.  This was not accident. This was no trick of nature.  This was an artist creating a master piece.  He gave attention to beauty, form and function.

Psalms 19:1-2 (NIV)

The heavens declare the glory of God;

The skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

Night after night they display knowledge.

If you ever doubt that we are a creation of God, living on God’s creation, just watch a baby smile, or a kitten play, or a bird in flight.  None of these are accidents.  Thank you, God, for loving us enough to create beauty all around us.  Help us to notice it more.

Nature Sings from jwrightus on GodTube.

Nehemiah

Somewhere in time, between 455 -432 B.C., the Old Testament book of Nehemiah was written. It was written by Nehemiah as he recounted his story to us.  Nehemiah was the cup bearer for the King of Persia.  One day the King noticed that Nehemiah seemed depressed.  When questioned, Nehemiah told the King he was sad about the condition of the city of Jerusalem. The Israelites that had been in exile in Persia were allowed to return, but the walls were broken and burned, so there was no protection. The King listened and gave Nehemiah all he asked for. This enabled him to travel to Jerusalem with a plan to make things better.

When he arrived, the sight was almost disheartening.  The scope of the issue was so large.  The people already living in the city had not even begun to fix the problem of the wall.  They were living unprotected and open for attack by their enemies.  The problem almost seemed too large to tackle by so few.

Have you ever been in a situation like that?  The problem seems so big that the ability to solve it seems impossible?  I think this overwhelming feeling impacts all of us at least once in our lives. At times it’s something personal we are working through.  Other times, it’s just becoming aware of the needs in our world and feeling powerless to do anything that could possibly make a difference. 

Nehemiah had a problem, but he has had a plan and a vision for how to carry it out.

He took the large problem and broke it down into manageable pieces.  Every person was responsible for the wall nearest their house.  With each person tackling a small portion, together they were able to build a large protective wall.  Together they solved their mutual problem.

Nehemiah 6:15-16 (NIV) “So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.”

When you are faced with an insurmountable problem, remember that you are not alone.  God is with you.  Sometimes, God places people in our lives that can help us.  Sometimes, he needs us to completely rely on Him. Either way, help is available, we just have to ask.

Just remember – one brick at a time. Do what you can do and don’t get discouraged.

Chris Tomlin - I Lift My Hands (Official Music Video) from chris-tomlin on GodTube.