Peace

Peace

I was searching for a definition of peace and the Lord brought this beautiful old hymn to mind

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.

It is well with my soul,
it is well, it is well with my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
even so, it is well with my soul.

What a wonderful and inspiring chain of thought runs through this song. It is the Gospel by any other name. Sure the language is old-fashioned and the sentiment is perhaps laid on a little bit – well, it was written in the late 1800’s – but here is Holy Spirit inspired truth.

Can I say the same as the author, Horatio Spafford, that all is well with my soul? I can honestly say that, whenever I have faced any real mountain in my life, then all has been and still is well with my soul. There is a different peace in troubles than in happy times. One is the peace that passes all understanding that comes when Holy Spirit ministers to us on a personal level, and assures us of His hand upon us. The other is a simple peace that envelops the soul when all, or at least most things are going well. At such times we know that we know the Lord has us in His will for us and we have His peace because of that.

I particularly love that last verse, where the hymnist refers to the return of our Lord. When I think on that, then I am both excited and at complete peace because I know He will sustain me until then. At that moment, all I want to hear Him say is, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I cannot imagine the joy of that moment and I look forward to it with immense anticipation.