Is It Well With My Soul?

"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" Psalm 8:3,4

Years ago, I changed the way I prayed for, really, I changed what I prayed for. I was in a prayer group with several other single guys and I realized that we often prayed the same thing week after week. I'm not going to share what it was, but after a while I realized that I wasn't praying how I think God would want me to pray. I was treating God like Santa Claus, my prayers would go something like this "God, If it's your will, please allow me to have..." And I'm pretty sure I was throwing in the "if it's your will" part just to sound better, but really I was saying "I want this, and I want that. I want, I want, I want!" That is, until the following passage really sunk in..."I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." (Philippians 4:11, 12)

After that, my prayer changed, it turned into "Lord, there are things I have, and things I don't have and each presents challenges, please help be to be content with what I have." I think that God has been working on me in this ever since, and that was almost a decade ago. I'm not there yet, there are days that I still long for what I don't have, things that others take for granted.

Tomorrow I will have my foot amputated. I'm sure there will be many, many times in the next few months and years where I will wish that I had that foot back. Things will be harder for the next few months, I'll be less mobile than I already am and maybe even in some pain. It'll be harder to do things like take a shower and get into the car. I don't say these things to make people feel sorry for me, I say them as a matter of fact. My prayer is still that I would be content whatever the situation I'm in. In Bible study the other day, I defined joy as the peace one has even when things are going bad, and the exuberance when things are going well. Joy is not happiness, it comes out of our relationship with Christ.

Yesterday I was reading about a girl who, at the age of 15, was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, and she would lose her sight. When she got home from that doctor's appointment, she sat down at the piano and played, by ear, "It Is Well With My Soul." She had taken lessons and memorized some songs, but this wasn't one of them. some people thought it was a miracle that she could go home and play that song from memory, but as she said "The miracle was not that I played 'It Is Well With My Soul,' but the miracle is that it actually was well with my soul."

That's where I am today. It is well with my soul, I am content with the decision I've made to have my foot amputated. and that's why the hymn I'm going to share today is..."It Is Well With My Soul"

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 is well, with my soul,
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 has 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 my 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.

I don't know if I'll get an entry in tomorrow, I have to leave for the hospital pretty early, but I'll try to get an entry done later in the day.

God Bless