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
Please run now to meet [the Shunammite woman], and say to her, “Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?” And she answered, “It is well.” (2 Ki. 4:26.)
The Shunamite woman’s strong desire to have a child that she may have a future of happiness and honor are now crushed. Her child is dead. Her hope for future happiness is gone. Filled with sorrow—a sanctifying sorrow—this woman of great faith acquiesces in the will of God, “It is well [peace]” she tells the prophet. She was confident that her son was with God, therefore it is well with her. In the greatest of trials, she cleaves to God. In her bereavement, she does not nurse her grief or indulge in “the luxury of sorrow.” Instead, she goes at once to consult with God. She may have gone to seek deliverance from her own sorrow, maybe to seek the strength of God to bear the trial, or to seek sanctification of her trial. There is no doubt that her desire to go to God in her season of trouble and sorrow was the right thing to do. She knew something of God’s love before the trial, but she never would have known it like she did after.
If we suffer with Him, we shall reign with Him (2 Tim. 2:12). Our faith, our perception of Him who sends the trial, and the purpose for it, come to the surface when we undergo suffering. Great trials bring great mercies. Affliction comes to humble us, to loosen our ties to the world, to press us into a deeper relationship with our Lord, to conform us to our Savior by admitting us into fellowship with His sufferings. Our trials are for His glory. When we patiently endure our afflictions, cheerfully accepting His will, those around us see there is truth, there is power, there is hope in the Gospel. We often think that for us to be well would mean to have an abundance of food, possessions, and health for our bodies. These are temporal. To be truly well, we ought to consider our soul and the eternal state of our being. It is well with us when our soul has been awakened, we have found forgiveness, Jesus is precious to us, and we are living in newness of life—a righteous life.
Are you seeking mercy from God? Are you going to God in your trials and sufferings like the Shunamite woman? Do you love Christ above all worldly pleasures? What is your greatest joy? Where do your greatest possessions lie—eternal faith or temporal wealth? Jesus or self? Can you say, “It is well, it is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul”?