Just this week, a friend emailed me this “redemption song.” Little did she know the story this song holds for me. Many many years ago, I had a friend who loved this song. Peggy and I became friends in a small group Bible study. Her husband was often traveling, and my husband was often working as a resident on Sundays, so we sat together in church. I’ll never forget standing next to Peggy, tall, lovely songbird, as she sang this hymn. She told me it was her favorite, and it became my favorite too.
Then, one day, Peggy was murdered. She was suddenly, violently, taken from us. It was a harsh season of questioning. Our pastor, Bob Cargo, preached a powerful sermon that has helped me through other inexplicably bizarre stories. He said, “The question is not ‘why’ but ‘who’.” (I should probably expound on this another day.)
Back to the hymn, “It Is Well with My Soul.” In that season, I listened to this song over and over. I could hear Peggy singing it in my head. I never came to understand Peggy’s death. But I did come slowly, slowly to be able to say, “Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well with my soul.'”
Listen to the song and think about it. Do you have stories that fit this song?
