Majesty, Grace, and the Ocean

One of my favorite things to do while at the beach is to sneak onto my balcony early in the morning and watch the ocean. Of course, "early" in my vacation vocabulary is anything after 8 am. We were 12 stories high this trip and the view was incredible!

After sitting there for a bit, listening to the crashing waves and reflecting on all possible things, I like to open up the Word. I don't know how to say this, but God speaks more clearly at the beach. It would be a great reason to move there, don't you think?

While watching the waves powerfully crash and then recede again, I was dumbstruck at how this is even possible! Looking out, I viewed a mass of never ending water that plummeted to a depth that I am sure I cannot fathom. And yet, the strong waves would simply creep up to a point and then stop. I know there is a scientific reason for all of this...tides, yada yada...but I was so intrigued by it all. The ocean is the one thing that continually reminds me of God's power and grace intermingled. Crashing, hungry waves stop at the shoreline and refuse to consume beyond the designated line that God grants them. God is all-powerful and majestic and yet good all at the same time. He doesn't use his power to crumple us underfoot but to redeem.

While looking at a few of the waves coming in, I noticed that they were either a muddy shade of brown or green. They reflected nothing of the true blue color of the ocean when looked upon as a whole. It reminded me of the past heartbreaking year. Things happen to us that are incomprehensible and quite frankly, don't seem to reflect what we know of God and His character. We don't always understand things and when we single them out against God's grand plan, we lose sight. Things look inconsistent with His nature. But, if we are able to reflect back to His Whole Being and character, we will once again be able to see His glory. Once again, by the grace of God, the ocean will appear blue when viewed in its entirety. When thrust into something much bigger than us, we will either choose to believe and say "It is well with my soul," or we will be tossed by the angry waves forever.

I believe the song, "It is Well With my Soul" was written on a ship crossing a vast ocean. Here is the history to this powerful hymn:

"Two years after the fire (that claimed his finances and occurred after his son had died), Horatio Spafford planned a trip to Europe for him and his family. He wanted a rest for his wife and four daughters, and also to assist Moody and Sankey in one of their evangelistic campaigns in Great Britain. He was not meant to travel with his family. The day in November they were due to depart, Spafford had a last minute business transaction and had to stay behind in Chicago. Nevertheless, he still sent his wife and four daughters to travel as scheduled on the S.S. Ville du Havre, expecting to follow in a few days. On November 22, the ship laden with his wife and daughters was struck by the Lockhearn, an English vessel, and sank in few minutes.

After the survivors were finally landed somewhere at Cardiff, Wales, Spafford's wife cabled her husband with two simple words, "Saved alone." Shortly after, Spafford left by ship on his way where his beloved four daughters had drowned, and pen at hand, wrote this most poignant text so significantly descriptive of his own personal grief – "When sorrows like sea billows roll..." The hymn "It is Well with My Soul" was born.

It is noteworthy that Horatio Spafford did not dwell on the theme of life's sorrows and trials, instead, focused in the third stanza on the redemptive work of Christ, and in the fourth verse, anticipates His glorious second coming."

He lost all five children. All five. And yet, God graciously got him to a place of saying it was well with his soul. He believed God to not only be Majestic, but Gracious as well. He clung to the reality of the cross and the hope of being reunited with his children.

Give us grace to live our days in a way that will always say, "It is well..."