It is well with my soul

Have you ever had a phone call from heaven? Well, I have. I was feeling overwhelmed with some new challenges, and my prayer was something like this: “I know I’ve been asking for a lot of help, and you have been helping me. Thank you. If you would, please, I need help right now.” Then my phone rang. My friend called, and it turned out she knew a lot about what I needed help with. When we finished talking, I felt peace. In that peace, the Holy Ghost assured me that I was strong enough for the challenges facing me. The Holy Ghost is the Comforter whom Jesus promised his apostles would “teach you all things” (see John 14:26 all references KJV). With that assurance from God, I knew I would be OK.

A few days later, my family needed immediate help. My prayer went something like this: “You have given our family so many miracles in the past few years. Thank you. I see them, and I am so grateful. Tonight, we need another miracle. Will you help us?” The name of a friend with the expertise we needed came to mind. We called him, and he not only would help, he would help right now. His specialty--hard to come by right now when his industry is so busy--was the blessing we needed. And “right now” was when we needed it. I have found that heaven is close, and miracles can abound in our lives.

Challenges are part of our human existence and they can help us grow in ways we cannot grow otherwise. Challenges often look impossible, as if a mountain were placed before us. Sometimes they feel as if the lights went out, and we have no idea how to move forward. Sometimes challenges look like a thick fog ahead, with no path in sight.

When life turns hard, trusting our Heavenly Father and having faith in Jesus Christ can give us peace and miracles. Jesus can move the mountain, part the fog, and illuminate the path forward. He can send angel friends to help us when our abilities are insufficient. He has promised that “all things [will] work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28). All things, even hard things, can move our lives forward and bring us closer to God.

During the late 1800s, Horatio Spafford had a thriving law practice, owned several properties throughout Chicago, had five beautiful children, and a happy marriage. Then disaster struck. His young son died. Soon after, he lost all of his properties in the great Chicago fire. He planned a family vacation to Europe for respite from their recent tragedies. His wife and four daughters went first by ship. He was to follow a week later.

During his wife and daughers’ journey, the ship encountered a storm, took on water and sank. All four of their daughters drowned. His wife sent him a telegram that read, “Saved alone.” The following week, broken-hearted, he boarded a ship and traveled to meet his grieving wife across the same sea that had claimed the lives of his daughters. At this unparalleled moment of loss, he experienced the “peace of God, which passeth all understanding” (Phillippians 4:7). Inspired, he put his pen to paper and wrote the timeless hymn, “It is well with my soul.”

“When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, 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. It is well, it is well with my soul.” (Story sourced from The Story Behind the Hymn “It is well with my soul.”)

Horatio and his wife continued to live with faith in Jesus Christ. They were blessed with additional children and dedicated their lives for multiple generations to establishing and running a charitable organization. The Spafford Children’s Center has blessed thousands of families for over 90 years.

“Faith in Jesus Christ is the greatest power available to us in this life. All things are possible to them that believe. Your growing faith in Him will move mountains—not the mountains of rock that beautify the earth but the mountains of misery in your lives. Your flourishing faith will help you turn challenges into unparalleled growth and opportunity,” teaches Russell M. Nelson, prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Liahona, May 2021).

The Apostle Paul taught that there is nothing that can separate us from the power and love of our Savior: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35, 37-39).

I have witnessed small miracles and big miracles in my family’s lives as we have responded to our challenges with faith in Jesus Christ. As we focus on our Savior and seek his help during our trials, we will always be able to say, “It is well, it is well with my soul.”

Beth Wright and her family love the beauty of Alaska’s fall. We are blessed to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.