Thursday, November 6, 2014

It is Well
By Brita Crouse

“Since I know it is all for Christ's good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

This past Sunday, I was sitting in church, and as the pastor began speaking, he opened up by telling the congregation that this sermon was going to be on suffering. I could feel my body going rigid and my mind putting up mental walls to tune out what he was saying because I did not want to hear this. But then, I heard that still, small voice nudging me to listen because I might just learn something.

I am currently experiencing a “season of suffering,” so, the fact that this pastor was preaching on this very topic, convicted me about my attitude toward an unwanted obstacle that is being used to tell others about God. Suffering seems to mean certain things to different people. It’s not experienced the same for everyone and everyone handles it differently, but it is something that everyone has, or will, experience.

Horatio Spafford, the writer of the popular hymn “It is Well with My Soul,” experienced an immense amount of suffering. He was ruined financially because of the Chicago fire, and on top of that lost all of his children, either to illness or drowning. He lost so much, yet remained faithful to God and was prompted to go on and write one of the most well-known hymns of all time. His suffering was used by God to reach millions of others over decades and generations through this powerful song.

When God makes us weak through periods of insult, hardship, persecution, or calamity, it gives us the opportunity to fully depend on Him. He is the only one who can provide us true comfort and strength.

“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 is one of my favorite verses from “It is Well...” because it encourages us to be faithful to God, in good times and in bad. So whether you are experiencing “peace like a river” or “sorrows like sea billows,” remember to always depend on God, for when we are weak, then we are strong in Him.

GOING DEEPER:
1. Are you or someone close to you experiencing a season of suffering? How is God using you to glorify Him through this time?
2. Listen to the hymn “It is Well with My Soul” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80x6wDi9umY) every day this week. What words or lines apply to you specifically right now?

FURTHER READING:

Brita is currently working toward her Master’s in Counseling at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She has called Oakwood her home church for the past seventeen years.