Elul 23 :: It is Well... or is it?

One of my all-time favorite hymns was written by a lawyer in the depths of a personal tragedy. Many probably know the story, but many more do not. In 1873, Horatio Spafford wrote the now-famous words after losing all of his children first to illness, then to shipwreck:

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.

That peace in the midst of deep personal loss has comforted many people trusting in YHVH. My own friend lost both of his parents while he was in college when they were brutally murdered by Viet Cong during the Tet Offensive of 1968. In his book, On Call, he describes his anger, despair and finally peace as he came to the place of trusting YHVH in the midst of his sorrow.

Today's Elul devotion from The Rabbi's Son reminds us that: "It is...not for His benefit that He consents to step off His Throne and into our field to [visit] us. It is [we who] desperately need Him to do so. He knows what our condition is – but we do not." It is true that the demands and challenges of our day-to-day lives seem to conspire to dull our minds to the reality that we have cracks in our emotional and spiritual armor. As a result, we don't notice as we slip into defensiveness, pettiness, anger, disappointment - then scar tissue builds up in our hearts and souls. Sometimes, it even takes a tragedy to shake us out of our self-absorbed state of mind and remind us that we need His touch, His hand to show us where we have become cold and unresponsive.

That is the reason why I embarked on this journey of introspection, with the goal of leading up to a better awareness of His hand directing me. Then, maybe I can sing with all honesty the words:

No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life

Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,

The sky, not the grave, is our goal;

Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!

Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

Thank you Christine Miller for your beautiful scripture art!