True Story:

Imagine a successful attorney and real estate investor living in Chicago, a man with a great fortune. It is the year 1871. (Did that throw a curve ball to the picture in your head?) He worked hard to arrive at this place, and lived comfortably with his wife, four beloved daughters, and one precious son. Can you feel his happy condition?

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Enter the devastating Great Chicago Fire. It's deadly flames left 1 in 3 residents homeless after burning nearly four square miles of over 17,000 structures. Horatio Spafford lost his great fortune to that fire. What is one to do? How does a man rebuild in that size of loss?
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Ashes Upon Ashes

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A narrow time after, scarlet fever struck his precious 4-year old boy, and he died. Now there is the added agony of a child taken by illness, another layer of ashes over the mound of loss from the fire.

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Thinking a vacation would do the family good in their pain, he sent his wife and four girls on a ship to England. Horatio planned to join them after finishing some pressing business at home.
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The Dreaded Call, er, Telegram No One Ever Wants

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He received a telegram from Anna, his wife. It began, “Saved alone. What shall I do?”

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The ship was involved in a horrible collision and sunk. More than 200 people died in the crash. Among them were all four of his dear daughters. Only Anna survived.

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He immediately set sail to meet her in England.
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Who is God When the Unthinkable Happens?

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As the voyage approached the very spot where the shipwreck occurred, the captain of the ship called for Horatio. Aware of the family’s insurmountable loss, he told the broken man their location. Through the captain, God honored his pain. He gave him the gift of notice and care.

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In that space, Horatio grieved his four daughters. I imagine he also grieved the horror their mother endured as she survived only to feel lost. All of her children gone now.

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He wrote down his thoughts from that moment. We now know them to be the great hymn It Is Well With My Soul.
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It’s easy to say it is well when we experience peace like a river, when life’s circumstances are as we desire. But when we are tossed by tumultuous sorrow like sea billows rolling away what we dearly love... how, oh how can it be said, it is well with my soul?

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Jesus Takes Notice and Takes it Within Himself

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To regard is to take specific notice, care, and concern of someone’s situation. Even greater, to honor the details of their suffering.

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On that ship, and I'm certain many times after, Horatio experienced Jesus coming close in his despair. He remembered through the cross Christ took away the weight of his sin, AND bore his griefs and sorrows in His own body. (Isaiah 53:4) He pleas:

God, remind me again! Assure me that you see me and you grieve with me!

Where do you need Jesus to take specific notice and care to the details of your life? How often do you need reminding? He sees you. He never tires of your grief. He is at the ready to comfort you.

If you or someone you know has experienced this false but often well-intentioned "comfort," or if you struggle to know what to say in someone's extended pain, read my latest blog post on the website below. Though it is specific to "Chronic Illness & Grief" it is relatable to all types of grief.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those are in any affliction with the same comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ~2 Corinthians 1:3-7

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