Here is what I learned from MatthewRuttan.com/Up yesterday, and I quote:
Today’s Thought
Horatio Spafford lived in Chicago. And when the great fire of 1871 ripped through the city, not only did it destroy his home, but it destroyed much of his livelihood. (He was in real estate.)
Did I mention he had no insurance?
This was a huge blow at an already difficult time. The previous year he and his wife had lost their son to scarlet fever.
So now, having no home, he put his wife and four daughters on a ship back to England as he stayed behind to try and get things started again.
Shortly thereafter he got a telegram from his wife that said, “Saved alone. What shall I do?”
There had been a shipwreck at sea. All four of their daughters drowned.
Horatio got on a ship to go and meet his wife. As he passed over the very same waters where his daughters had lost their lives, he wrote some lyrics to a song. Some of you will know them very 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.”
These are the now-famous words to the hymn “It is well.”
How many of us can say, “It is well with my soul” even without going through the tragedies that Horatio did. There lived a man with great faith. When we get to that place in our lives, we will be blessed indeed.
My Precious Life 