IT IS WELL

A friend recently recommended that I watch I Can Only Imagine 2, so last week I finally watched it. Wow. If you haven’t seen it yet, you really should.  

This movie is about Tim Timmons and Bart Millard.  Both men are Christian singers.  The movie is about their lives and their struggles.  One night, when Tim was opening for Bart, the lead singer of MercyMe, he told the story behind the hymn “It Is Well.”  

Horatio Spafford wrote this hymn after losing his daughters at sea while his wife survived. In the very place where his daughters perished, he penned the lyrics—a song that connects deeply with those who have faced pain and loss.  

From this hymn and Tim Timmons’ battle with cancer, Tim began writing the song Even If.  In the movie, Bart takes up where Tim left off and finishes it.    

Reflecting on this, I’m reminded how God’s threads are woven throughout our lives. 

• · The day I watched the movie, I had taken Jack to therapy. The song Even If came on the radio, and I thought to myself Even if God doesn’t correct Jack’s disability, he is perfect in my eyes.
• · The day after I watched the movie, my devotional for the day was about the hymn It is Well with My Soul.
• · 3 weeks ago, I ordered the book Waking Up, not knowing that Tim Timmons wrote the book while making the movie. So, after I watched the movie, I read the book in two days.
• These overlapping moments remind me that God keeps sewing threads through our lives, over and over, if we take time to notice them.

I looked at the lyrics of both songs and decided this quote best represented both. 

“Even if the situation or circumstance doesn’t shift, it is still well with my soul.”

Just as the words of the song “Even If” say, I have learned that some mountains God doesn’t move; God is able, but it is His will, not mine. And that sometimes we are put in the fire, but God doesn’t let us get burned.  With all of these things, even if it doesn’t go as I had planned, my hope is on Christ alone.  And because of Him it is well with my soul.  

Our peace and our well-being of soul don’t depend on our situations. They rely on God’s promises and His faithfulness.  

So therefore, EVEN IF God doesn’t shift things how I think they should be shifted, IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL.

Being well with your soul is easier if you:

• 1. Show up for JESUS every day – Start your day in the Word.
• 2. Show up for OTHERS – Serve others, whether or not they are like you, whether or not they annoy you, or are difficult to understand. That is what Jesus did; He showed up for everyone.

3. Show up for YOU – Fill your cup before you help fill others’ cups.

WE WILL FIND JOY WHEN WE SHOW UP FOR JESUS, OTHERS, AND OURSELVES.

As Father Mike says, “You pray for me, and I will pray for you.”

As Tara Leigh says: He’s where the joy is.  

Have a great week, Cupcake loves you and so does Jesus.