In the days of the Coronavirus, our lives have been changed suddenly and forever. A few weeks ago, people all over the world were settled in the routines of a new year: children in school, parents at work, Christians gathering on Sundays for worship.

But for several weeks, something had been brewing deep in the interior of China, a new virus which would spread fast and far. The Coronavirus, AKA Wuhan Virus or CCP (Chinese Communist Party) Virus seems to have a mind of its own. The world’s best scientist and health-care professionals cannot tell us where it will go next, how long it will remain, how many people will be infected, how many will die.

Many of life’s challenges spring up suddenly and upend the very fabric of our lives for days, weeks, and sometimes forever. Some days are better, some worse. Some are filled with joy, some with sorrow. We dream our dreams one day and the next, those dreams are shattered. This is the reality of our fallen world.

How can we find peace in the midst of the days of the Coronavirus? The story of Horatio Spafford may provide perspective.

Spafford was a lawyer, businessman, husband of Anna and father of five. He was a Christian leader in his community and friend of the great evangelist Dwight L. Moody. In 1870, Spafford was a successful land developer with properties on the shore of scenic Lake Michigan. Life was good!

Then tragedy struck. In 1871, his beloved four-year-old son, Horatio Goertner, died of scarlet fever. A few months later, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed 3.3 square miles of Chicago, displacing 100,000 residences and wiping out most of Spafford’s business investments.

Shipwreck at sea

As a response to the devastation that had struck his city and family, Spafford planned a family trip to England for a time of recovery from their personal and financial losses, as well as work with Moody in an evangelistic campaign in Great Britain.

The family booked passage on the French ocean liner SS Ville du Havre, leaving November 21, 1873, for Europe. It carried 313 passengers, including Anna and their four daughters—Annie, Margaret Lee, Bessie and Tanetta. Unexpected business matters kept Spafford in Chicago a few more days; he expected to follow shortly on another ship.

Then disaster struck again!

Four days into its Atlantic crossing, the Ville du Havre was rammed by a Scottish ship, the Loch Earn. Anna gathered the four girls on the deck where they prayed together for safety, but the ship sank in just 12 minutes. Some 226 people, including the four Spafford girls, were lost into the dark depths of the sea. Anna was found in the cold Atlantic, floating on a piece of wreckage. She was rescued by a passing ship that carried her to Cardiff, Wales.

Upon arriving in Wales, Anna wired her husband the tragic news in a simple message, “Saved alone, what shall I do?”

A pastor Weiss, who along with Anna, survived the tragedy, heard her say: “God gave me four daughters, now they have been taking from me. Someday, I will understand why.”

Spafford’s story reflected that of Job: financially ruined and tragically, suddenly deprived of his children.

The dark night of the soul

Horatio Spafford booked the next available passage to meet his isolated and grieving Anna. Four days out to sea, the ship’s captain notified him that they were over the place where the Vile du Harve had vanished into the deep, entombing his four precious daughters. In that moment of profound sorrow and grief, in the dark night of his heart, Spafford turned his attention to his Savior and the Lover of his soul. As he cried out to the Lord, while his ship passed the spot of his daughters watery grave, he “heard” these words:

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.

Thus was born one of the world’s greatest hymns known simply as “It Is Well with My Soul!’ Spafford’s words, set to composer Philip Bliss’ hauntingly beautiful music, have brought profound comfort, grace, and hope to hundreds of thousands of people.

It is amazing, that in the moment of his greatest sorrow, he wrote words that would comfort generations.

The hymn begins with loss.

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 ends with great hope.

And Lord, haste the day when the 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.

All great works of art, including great hymns, transcend time and culture. In this personal and global season of loss from the Coronavirus, may we be comforted by Spafford’s beautiful hymn.

How is it with your soul?

A choir of “social distancing” singers from Nashville made an inspiring rendition of Spafford’s hymn. Take a moment to enjoy The Nashville Studio Singer Community Virtual Cellphone Choir singing It is Well with My Soul.

In the midst of the Coronavirus, we can live in faith and hope and even wonder, and help create what great good might yet come out of this unfolding tragedy.

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.

Refrain:

It is well with my soul,

It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

Let this blest assurance control,

That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for 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!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:

If Jordan above me shall roll,

No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life

Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,

The sky, not the grave, is our goal;

Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!

Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when the 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.

As we live though the age of Coronavirus, may we find comfort in Spafford’s words:

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

Let this blest assurance control,

That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

• Darrow Miller

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