How can it be well with my soul when my life is falling apart?

Here's the Precious Prodigal post-August 08, 2014: How can it be well with my soul when my life is falling apart? #trustGod #Godsgotthis Please "Share" using this "ShortLink" = http://bit.ly/XOfH

2 Kings 4:26 "… It is well:"

It’s been a tough couple of weeks at our house. First we had a serious medical scare. Although it turned out to be a false alarm, it certainly took a toll on our emotions. That was the first of several minor and major crises we needed to deal with. I asked friends to pray for us without sharing all the details, and one precious friend reminded me that, no matter what the problem was, “God’s got this.” And you know what? She’s right.

2 Kings 4 tells the story of the Shunammite woman who made a little chamber for the prophet Elisha because he often passed by there. She wanted nothing in return...she just had a good heart and wanted to serve God's man. Besides, she already had position, power, and money. The only thing she didn't have waa child. So Elisha performed a miracle, and she and her elderly husband had a son.

When that child was grown, he became ill and died. I don’t know how I would have reacted, but what she did was to go looking for the man of God. Elisha saw her a long way off and sent his servant to meet her and ask, "Is it well with thee?” But he didn’t stop there. He also asked if it was well with her husband and her son. Her answer was, “It is well.”

As I read that story in 2 Kings, I thought about a man named Horatio Spafford. He was a Chicago lawyer with a wife, four daughters, and one son. His son died of scarlet fever when he was four. A year later, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed Spafford’s real estate investments. He scheduled a boat trip to Europe so his family could rest and try to recover from these tragedies. When last-minute business kept him from going with them, he sent his wife and daughters ahead with plans to join them later.

Days later, he received word that the ship had been in a collision, and only his wife had survived. I can only imagine his anguish when he received the telegram from his wife that read, “Saved alone.” His son gone, his wealth devastated, and now his precious daughters were also gone. How would he respond? On a ship going to join his devastated wife, he wrote the following words to “It is Well with My Soul”:

When peace like a river attendeth my soul.

When sorrow like sea billows roll.

Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say:

It is well, it is well with my soul.

Both the Shunammite woman and Horatio Spafford knew it isn’t the “peace like a river” that makes it well with your soul. It’s the God of that peace, and He is still God when the “sea billows roll.” Whatever our circumstances, we can count on the fact that “God’s got this” and is still in control. When those storms come (and they will), remembering that God is in control is something we need to hold fast.

Challenge for Today: Can you, just for today, remember that God wasn’t surprised by your circumstances? Can you remember that God’s got this?