It Is Well

"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

Life can be  is challenging. It's a balance between the highs and the lows. It gets real. It gets rough. But through it all, how many of us can still exclaim "it is well"? Not a pitiful 'I have no other choice' type of it is well, but I'm talking about confidently declaring that no mater what it looks like, no matter what it feels like, no matter what comes your way, you know deep down in your heart that all is truly well.

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." Romans 8:28

For some, as soon as we find ourselves in these tough situations we quickly cry out to God to deliver us from them, and then we even have the nerve to put Him on a time constraint.

It took me some time, but I had to realize that perhaps the reason why God couldn't help my situation was because I still had my hands all over it. We can't stretch forth our arms and say "Here God, please fix this" while still having a hold on whatever it is. I'm sorry but it just doesn't work that way. Either you want Him to take it and fix it, or you still want to try and figure it out on your own. You can't have both. And let me just tell you that eventually you will get tired of trying to do the same thing over and over without getting any new results.

Sometimes (most times) all it requires is you stepping back so that God can step in. God can't be God in our life if we're always in the way.

Don't block your blessings

When my mom is in what we like to call her 'cooking mode' she always says "if you're not going to help, then get out of the way". And with that in mind I can only imagine how God must feel sometimes. Wanting to help but just not being able to because we're all in His way... picking up stuff He told us to put down, ignoring His direction; just flat out doing the most. You know how we do. Just think of how many of your own blessings you could've blocked just by being in your own way. 😩

Thankfully, there's grace, mercy and forgiveness for that. But to think, if even for a moment, that God is incapable of fixing your situation says more about your faith (I blogged about  Faith here) than it does about our God.

It may not be an easy pill to swallow but it is so real. It's easy for us to trust God and sing "Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders..." when things are going well in our lives, but what do our hearts cry out when our circumstances make it hard to trust Him? Do we really desire to be called out onto the water like Peter, or has that song just become mere lip service? The sad truth is that for some of us, we do desire to trust God without borders, just as long as those borders are within our comfort zone.

I know it gets hard. I know sometimes it seems impossible, but don't let that be you today. Don't allow your circumstances to overturn your boat. When peace like a river attendeth your way. When sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever your lot, will you STILL choose to say it is well, it is well with your soul?

     
It Is Well - Kristene DiMarco & Bethel Music