We tend to think that “a good confession” is a Christian concept, but that’s not so. The confession of a mother whose child had died of sunstroke and who had ridden her donkey to the prophet Elisha, was as good as any confession recorded elsewhere in the Bible (2 Kings 4).
She didn’t just repeat her words in a kind of mantra, but held her peace as firmly as she withheld her grief (2 Kings 4). Her confession has been made memorable in the hymn “It Is Well with My Soul”, written by Horatio Spafford.
“This hymn was written after traumatic events in Spafford’s life. The first was the death of their only son from Scarlet Fever in 1870. Second was the 1871 Great Chicago Fire which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer and had invested significantly in property in the area of Chicago decimated by the great fire).
“His business interests were further hit by the economic downturn of 1873 at which time he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the SS Ville du Havre. In a late change of plan, he sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire.
“While crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sea vessel, the Loch Earn, and all four of Spafford’s daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him the famous telegram, “Saved alone …”.
“Shortly afterwards, as Spafford travelled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died.” — Wikipedia.
Yet, in spite of his deep sorrow, Spafford was able to say, “It is well.”
So popular is the hymn and so touching the story behind it, that it is better known by many than the account of the grief-stricken woman in the Bible. Some people still poke fun at Pentecostals for our emphasis on holding fast to a good confession (as though we came up with the concept).
The essence of the story is her tight-lipped belief that when there’s a problem, we go directly to the one who can solve it. “It is well” are the only words that Elisha’s servant could get from her, and although he had sent ahead his servant to lay his staff of authority on the dead child, she refused to leave the prophet’s side until they arrived at the scene.
When our son Paul was seriously ill with coeliac at eight years of age, we heard that evangelist Jean Darnell was ministering at a meeting in Melbourne. Lorraine decided to travel the 70 plus miles to the meeting and ask the anointed preacher to pray for him. That evening, Jean Darnell informed the meeting that the Lord had put it into her heart to pray for children.
So many people went to her for prayer that the host pastor asked some of the church’s pastors to help pray for them. Lorraine would not accept that! “Jean Darnell is the one who was led to pray for children,” she determined, “And that’s who is going to pray for my son!”
Long story short: our son was healed of that medically incurable disease, and has remained so for more than fifty years.
Most of us know and love the words of the old hymn, “It is Well.” But in times of crisis, we should go to the source of its lyrics: a determined woman who would not accept anything or anyone less than the one anointed by God with a miracle healing ministry.
She had but three words to say to the servant who went out to meet her along the way — “It is well.” She had much more to say to the prophet, but that was because he was the one who could do something about her child’s otherwise hopeless condition.
A three-word confession to anyone who asks you what’s wrong is okay when you’ve more to say to the Lord himself about the issue. So, enjoy the hymn, but bear in mind that the man who wrote “It is well” and the woman who confessed these words long before were coping with a depth of grief that most of us hope to God not to ever experience.
Sadly, not all Christians believe that God does miracles nowadays, but all should seek to emulate the confession of that woman in the time of the Old Testament — and that of the grieving father, many years later, who looked into the depth of the ocean below, and from the depth of his heart was able to say, “It is well with my soul.”
Lorraine was able to say the same, and our now 60-year-old son Paul is living proof that in spite of all evidence to the contrary, it can be well with your soul as well.