So he said, “Why are you going to him today? It is neither the new moon nor the Sabbath.” And she said, “It is well.”

II Kings 4:23 NKJV

Horatio Spafford was a successful businessman from Chicago. He and his wife Anna had five children, a son and four daughters. Their only son died of pneumonia at a young age. Later they lost their business to the Chicago fire. In 1873, Anna and the four daughters were on an ocean liner heading towards Europe while Horatio stayed behind a few days to finish some business. The ladies’ ship collided with another vessel and in 12 minutes the ship had sunk taking 226 passengers, including all four Spafford daughters, down with it. Anna was found holding on to a piece of wreckage and eventually made it to Wales where she sent the following message to her husband, “Saved alone, what shall I do?”

Mr. Spafford immediately left to join his grieving wife in Wales and while on the voyage he penned the words to the hymn known today, “It Is Well With My Soul.” The Spaffords’ would go on to have three more children, one of whom would also die of pneumonia.

When the Shunammite woman was preparing to go to Elisha her husband asked her about the timing. He was concerned for her in the loss of their child and the timing of the actions she was taking. She responded with only these three words which we know so well from Mr. Spafford’s hymn, “It is well.”

How is it that after losing her only son perhaps just minutes before, she could tell her husband, “It is well”? Commentators have given different opinions, some suggesting she was brushing off her husband’s question, even suggesting the words meant “never mind” instead of “it is well”. Others have suggested she was too overcome to say anything else but this contradicts the previous verse when she was able to prepare for a trip to Elisha.

We have in the Shunammite woman a great example of faith in the Lord her God so was she just brushing off her husband or was she communicating something else?

First, the Hebrew word translated “it is well” in the NKJV is the well known Hebrew word, Shalom. It means more than just peace, but also contentment and safety, and it suggests to others that they should be satisfied regarding the speaker’s welfare. The Shunammite woman was at peace, it was well with her for one reason, the Lord God Almighty was with her! Nothing could destroy her so long as the Lord was with her and He was. It was well with her soul.

Second, it was well with the Shunammite woman because her son was with the Lord! Can there be greater loss than the loss of one’s child? It is hard to imagine any. But can there be greater peace than knowing one’s child is safe in the arms of the Lord of Lords and King of Kings? It was well with the Shunammite woman because her son was well with the Lord. It was well with his soul.

Third, it was well with the Shunammite because she hoped in God as the Resurrection and the Life. Throughout the Old Testament we see a perfect assurance of Christians in the ability of God to raise the dead in their day and the assurance of the resurrection at the last day.* It would always be well with their souls.

For these reasons, when Gehazi came to the Shunammite woman in verse 26 asking “Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?… she answered again, “It is well.”

Mrs. Spafford said after the death of her daughters, “God gave me four daughters. Now they have been taken from me. Someday I will understand why.” That perfect assurance in the Lord made it well with her soul and the soul of her husband. It was well with the Shunammite, for the Lord was with her, her son was with the Lord, and the Lord has the power to raise the dead. Jesus said in John 11, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Is it well with your soul today?

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*Abraham concluded that God was able to raise Isaac up, even from the dead (Hebrews 11:19). David prophesied that “God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for He shall receive me” (Psalm 49:15). See also Psalm 71:20. Several prophets prophesied to this truth, though the clearest examples came after the Shunammite woman’s life (Daniel 12:2; Isaiah 26:19, Ezekiel 37).

The background details of the Spafford story were taken from memory and from The St. Augustine Record (staugustine.com), “Story behind the song: It is well with my soul.” Published October 16, 2014 by Ph.D.

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