It Is Well

Have you ever made a statement similar to the following?

“I’ll be glad when the kids are no longer in diapers.”

“I’ll be glad when I no longer have to take care of mowing the lawn.”

“I’ll be glad when I no longer have this car payment.”

“l’ll be glad when I make more money.”

“I’ll be glad when he or she finally leaves me alone!”

“I’ll be glad when FILL IN THE BLANK!”

I am guilty on all accounts noted above and then some. If you have ever made such statements, congratulations! You are now a charter member of the “I’ll Be Glad When Club”.

Please send me your annual dues for said membership, as “I’ll be glad” to spend the money wisely!

The membership is open to all and apparently has no lack of interested parties.

“I’ll be glad WHEN…” carries a condition with it.

If I do this then I get that. It is simple math, like “one plus one” equals two.

It is cause and effect in motion.

Why can’t we simply be glad without attaching a conditional statement as the caboose to the train?

In my case, I could say something like – “I’ll be glad when I am no longer without work.”

On the surface it seems like a like an honest statement. However, I am restricting my “gladness” to “when I find work.”

Incidentally, for those of you who have prayed for me in my employment quest, your prayers have been answered.

Although the details are still pending as of the date of this post, I was offered employment at another healthcare institution near Lancaster, Pennsylvania and we will be relocating in the next few months as the details unfold.

Words cannot express my thanks for those who have taken a moment or two to remember our needs. We are grateful!

Continued prayers for the processes and decisions yet to come would still be appreciated!

Back to our “gladness” chat.

I don’t want to be a card carrying member of the “I’ll Be Glad When Club.”

I simply want to express my gladness as an outward expression of an inward state of being. I don’t mean to thump you on the head with the Bible, but its words are Life to me.

I am not a “hymn” guy per se. My music tastes are more along contemporary lines.

However, there is value in learning about the background circumstances which may have influenced the writing of a particular song.

One of my favorite hymns, It Is Well With My Soul, was written by Horatio Spafford soon after an 1873 tragedy which involved his family.

Spafford was a partner in a thriving law firm in Chicago during the 1860’s. He was a contemporary of D. L. Moody.

He had sizable real estate holdings of which most were destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Two years after the fire Spafford and his family planned a vacation to England as Moody was scheduled to speak there.

Horatio sent his wife and four daughters ahead of himself on the trip as he was delayed by business to which he had to attend. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship on which his family traveled was struck by another vessel and over 200 people perished, including Spafford’s four daughters, with his wife, Anna, surviving.

She cabled home “Saved Alone”.

While subsequently sailing to England to join his wife, Spafford penned the words to the cherished hymn as he traveled over the site where his daughters had perished at sea.

What if Spafford had elected the mindset of “I’ll be glad when all my property is restored” or “I’ll be glad when my daughter’s come back to life.”?

He would have never been “glad” if he based his inner state on the external circumstances.

We would have been robbed of the encouragement the hymn provides. The lyrics are below.