Rivers of Peace or Waves of Sorrow

By Ian Brinksman

Many of us at the Church in Toronto have been walking with the Lord for some time, and have come to love hymns like, "It is well with my soul". This hymn speaks to the reality of having a "peace that passes all understanding" (Phil. 4:7). But, every so often as we sing these well-loved hymns we get a new appreciation for what we have sung so many times. This is the experience that Bryan DeWire writes about and his insight why God allows all this to happen:

Sometimes adding a simple conjunction can go a long ways. Things easily passed over appear in a new light. Or at least this happened for me when I was recently singing one of my favorite hymns, "It Is Well with My Soul." After the very first line I dropped in "or," like this:

When peace like a river attendeth my way /

Or when sorrows like sea billows roll /

Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say /

It is well, it is well with my soul.

This “or” makes explicit the paradoxical truth that we can have healthy souls in the midst of peace and (often simultaneously) in the midst of sorrow after sorrow.

For more on what DeWire has to say, click on the link below.

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/rivers-of-peace-or-waves-of-sorrow