I have many favorites; songs that I love and touch my heart, in ways indescribable. I’m not sure which affects me more, the lyrics or the music. Sometimes it can be one or the other or both. It can depend on the weather, my mood, my location or even the circumstances I am facing.
There are scores of songs by the Kingdom Heirs (my absolutely favorite Southern Gospel group) that I love, but one remains my absolute favorite: “The Empty Grave Says It All.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIkrj23jbpk The visuals and emotions this song draws out of me, are intense. I become overwhelmed with tremendous joy and inexpressible reverence and adoration for a God who gave us Jesus to become my Lord and Savior. I can picture the empty tomb and my heart is filled to overflowing!
Other songs that touch me include, “Jerusalem,” “Crown Him With Many Crowns,” “The Old Rugged Cross,” “Amazing Grace, (My Chains Are Gone),” “Lord Reign In Me,” and on and on! I LOVE Gospel music; the old Hymns and the newer contemporary songs!
The song that probably has had the biggest impact on me, however is, “It Is Well With My Soul,” written by Horatio Spafford. I’d always loved the song, but one Sunday, the person singing the song shared the history behind the lyrics. I was moved to tears; tears that wouldn’t stop. For weeks afterward, when the song came to mind, I’d tear up. When the music began in church several times during the months that followed, I was totally unable to sing. All I could do was cry! The words would not come.
Perhaps you’ve never heard the story behind why these words were penned. Horatio Spafford was a successful business man in Chicago. He lost his fortune in the great fire of Chicago in 1871; and lost his young four-year old son to scarlet fever. In an effort to escape the agonies they were facing, the family chose to take a trip to England. His work would delay him and it was decided he’d join his wife and four daughters when he finished. During the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean a horrific ship collision cost 200 people their lives; four of which included his daughters. His wife survived and sent a telegram to her husband as soon as she landed. He, of course, boarded ship and started the trip over, and as they passed over the spot where the collision happened, he penned the words to the now infamous song, “It Is Well With My Soul.”
For more about this event visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Is_Well_with_My_Soul
The words he wrote gave him comfort as he trusted a Sovereign God. We can learn much about courage and trust from this man of faith. I can’t imagine enduring such loss and still able to see a glimmer of sunshine, through the darkness. It is wonderful to know God is Sovereign, no matter what!
I wonder; the circumstances beyond your control which you are facing....are they well with your soul?
#MusicImpacts #ItIsWellWithMySoul #hymns #HoratioSpafford #music #favoriteSongs #ComfortSongs #tragedy #BelieveInGodsWill
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