"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." -Horatio Spafford
Have you ever had a day where absolutely nothing goes right? Aren't those days frustrating? On days like those, it just seems like the devil is poking you every chance he gets to try to get you to snap. At the end of the day, you are so upset and so stressed out that you either want to cry hysterically, binge eat, drink a big glass of wine, or all three.
Today was one of those days for me. I woke up 15 minutes after I was supposed to leave for work... I was over 20 minutes late. My machine was not running properly - which brought my production down significantly. At lunch, the self-checkout register was down, which meant I had to stand in line for 15 minutes to purchase my food. By the time I heated up my noodles, I had to clock back in and couldn't even eat them anyway. After work, I had to rush home because I forgot to do the lesson for my College and Career Bible Study Group on Friday nights. My computer crashed. As soon as I got it fixed, I had to rush to the pizza place to grab a few pizzas for the group. They only had one pizza made. When I finally got to the church, I realized I didn't have a key, and the group had no place to meet. We stood in 15 degree weather while I tried to contact anyone who might have a key. After no one answered, we decided to meet at my house, and to top it all off, the pizza was cold.
What do you do on days like that? Do you give up? Cry? Have a mental breakdown? Or do you persevere? Do you say, "I will do better tomorrow?"
Several weeks ago, I cried when I read the story behind the famous hymn, It Is Well With My Soul. Horatio Spafford wrote the song after his four daughters tragically died in a shipwreck. As he was travelling to be with his grieving wife, he wrote the lyrics as his ship passed over the area where his four daughters had died.
Imagine having so much faith in God that you are able to write such a beautiful song after a terrible tragedy occurred in your life. Imagine having so much peace that you can tell God, "It is well with my soul." Can you imagine it? 1 Peter 4:12-13 says, "Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead be very glad - for these trials make you partners with Christ in His suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing His glory when it is revealed to all the world." NLT.
I don't personally think that Peter means for us to shout for joy when a loved one passes away, or when any other terrible trial happens to us. Instead, I think he is saying that we don't need to ruminate on our troubles or allow them to crush us. We can be glad because we have something wonderful to look forward to... that is, being able to be with God and see His glory since we become partners with Him when we suffer. So don't be discouraged when you have days where absolutely nothing goes right. You are sharing in Christ's suffering. Just breathe, close your eyes and say to yourself, "It is well with my soul," and give a prayer to God asking Him to help you. If you ask Him, He will. He is always with you and will never leave you or forsake you.