Heart & Soul Elevation: What if peace isn’t the storm stopping, but your soul anchoring

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The room wasn’t full, but the sound was. As our small congregation sang “It Is Well with My Soul,” the harmonies rose like a river and something sacred brushed the air. That moment sparked a deep dive into the real story behind the hymn, the raw grief that birthed it, and the resilient hope it still offers to anyone standing in the waves.

We walk through Horatio Spafford’s cascading losses—the Great Chicago Fire, the death of his son, the shipwreck that claimed his four daughters—and how, on a grief-marked voyage, he penned words that neither deny sorrow nor bow to it. From “when sorrows like sea billows roll” to the promise that faith will become sight, we explore why this hymn endures across traditions: it names reality and then anchors the heart in God’s unchanging presence. Along the way, we unpack the difference between worldly peace (the storm must stop) and God’s peace (I am held in the storm), and we point to Revelation’s vision where every tear is wiped away.

You’ll hear practices for making the hymn your own: naming your pain without comparison, anchoring in scripture and prayer when emotions surge, and rehearsing hope until the refrain takes root. We also share a free journaling guide with prompts to help you reflect, grieve, and lean into God’s nearness. And there’s big news—our next season brings a fresh format with co-host Stephanie Pasniokis as we weave scripture into everyday wellness for women of faith, aligning spirit, mind, and body in truth, not trends.

If your heart is tired or your season feels stormy, this conversation offers language, presence, and a song to stand on. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs courage today, and leave a review to help others find this space where small rooms can still sound like heaven.

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Music by Adipsia

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:06):
Welcome to Heart and Soul Elevation.
This is a sacred pause in yourweek to recalibrate your spirit.
I'm Melissa, Christian lifecoach, woman of deep faith, and
steward of both intuitive wisdomand grounded truth.
Each heart and soul elevationepisode, I'll share scripture, a

(00:27):
reflection, and encouragement tolift your eyes, quiet the noise,
and help you reconnect with theGod who sees you and knows you.
Let's take a deep breath andbegin.
I want to start right here withyou, right where we live.
We live in this tension betweenthe ordinary and the sacred.

(00:50):
Now, I didn't grow up in church.
We didn't go to church everySunday.
We didn't go to church at all.
Like not even Christmas andEaster.
We weren't church-going people.
I didn't come to know the Lorduntil I was an adult.
And since that time, I've beento many different churches
because we moved around a lot inour family, being a military

(01:10):
family.
And we've been a part of manydifferent churches, seen a lot
of different worship styles,hymn only, worship only, a blend
of the two.
I mean, we've been around theblock a few times.
But a couple of Sundays ago, thechurch that I attend, which is
the House of Worship right herein Oak Ridge, Tennessee, at the
very end of our worship service,we sang It Is Well with My Soul.

(01:35):
And something really magicalhappened.
Right now, there are not a lotof physical bodies sitting in
the pews.
Not a whole lot of peoplepresent on Sunday mornings.
But I'm going to tell you, thechurch was full of the sound of
this hymn.
Like it was almost as if theroof came off and all of the

(02:00):
host of heaven were singing withus.
It was that incredible.
And our congregation, like Isaid, it's small, but the
harmonies filled the sanctuary.
And it sounded, it sounded likea choir.
And it felt like heaven's veilwas pulled back.
And worship has the power tocarry our souls all the way up

(02:20):
to heaven's courts if we willallow it.
Even when we don't know thewords or we're not part of the
tradition of church, some songsjust have a way of breaking
through.
And we're going to talk aboutthis hymn, It Is Well with My
Soul, how it is rooted in true,tragic, deep sorrow, but holds

(02:47):
hope.
You ready?
Okay, so we're going to talkabout the story real quick.
Horatio Gates Spafford was alawyer and he was a passionate
follower of Jesus who investedhis money in ministry and also
his community.
He was prosperous.
He had big dreams, but lifebegan to break around him.

(03:12):
In 1871, the Great Chicago Firedestroyed much of his real
estate.
And along with that, a lot ofhis investments.
And around that time, his youngson died of scarlet fever.
And in 1873, he planned a tripwith his family to Europe, but

(03:33):
business obligations kept himback in Chicago.
So his wife Anna and their fourdaughters went ahead of him.
While crossing the Atlantic, theship collided with another
vessel and sank.
Sank so quickly that more than200 lives were lost, including

(03:55):
Spafford's four daughters.
His wife Anna survived.
Anna sent Horatio a telegramthat said, simply saved alone.
Grief-stricken, Horatio set sailimmediately to meet her in
Europe.
And at some point during thevoyage, the captain announced

(04:16):
that they were nearing the placewhere that ship had sunk.
In that place of heartbreak,Horatio Spafford penned the
words that would become thebeloved hymn, It Is Well With My
Soul.
He was not writing from a placeof peace, right?

(04:37):
He was writing from this placeof tragic loss.
He was devastated at the loss ofhis family.
But he wrote those words.
And those words bring so muchcomfort to us today when we sing
them.
Spafford wrote, When peace likea river attendeth my way, when

(05:02):
sorrows like sea billows roll,whatever my lot, thou hast
taught me to say, it is well, itis well with my soul.
He was naming the realities oflife, right?
The sea billows rolling, but hewas also naming the sorrow.

(05:25):
And I want to just pause rightthere, real quick.
Whatever you're going through,whatever you're facing right
now, it is valid.
Many times, and I've heard thisfrom so many people, they'll say
things like, Well, I don't haveit as bad as, or they're worse

(05:47):
off than I am.
That does not negate what you'regoing through.
Yes, we can be positive.
Yes, we can look for the silverlinings.
Yes, we absolutely can pray andseek God more in the midst of
our trials and our struggles.
But that does not erase the achein your heart.

(06:07):
I cannot believe for one secondthat Horatio Spafford in that
moment felt all of his painerased.
But what he gives us is aposture that we can take.
Whatever my lot, whatever comesmy way, whatever sea billows
roll, whatever grief I'm facing,whatever loss I'm experiencing,

(06:33):
God has taught us to say, it iswell with my soul.
What he's writing doesn't erasethe waves, it doesn't erase the
pain, it doesn't erase thegrief.
He doesn't ever pretend that thesea never rose, he doesn't
pretend that the ship didn'tsink.
But what he did do was heanchored his soul in what God

(06:54):
taught him.
And I want to say with all thesincerity and clarity that I
can, that that is the differencebetween what the world tells us
peace is and the peace thatactually comes from God.
Worldly peace is absence ofstrife, right?

(07:15):
Supernatural peace is whatevermy lot, it is well with my soul.
As broken as his world was,Horatio Spafford did not leave
the story in darkness.
He didn't leave it in the pain.
He added on in later versesstanzas that point forward to
the day when our faith becomessight.

(07:37):
He said, He wrote, And Lord,haste the day when my faith
shall be sight, the clouds berolled back as a scroll.
The trumpet shall resound andthe Lord shall descend, even so
it is well with my soul.
And when we were singing this inchurch, oh my word, I'm telling

(08:00):
you, it is as if the clouds wererolled back and the host of
heaven joined in with us.
The sound that resonated insidethat sanctuary was as if it was
full of people, it was crazyridiculous.
I stood there with my eyesclosed, just listening and

(08:22):
harmonizing and worshiping.
It was incredible.
Now, what Horatio was doing herewasn't wishing.
He wasn't wishing for thefuture.
He wasn't just like how we usethe word hope.
Oh, I hope that comes true.
He was looking forward to theday when every tear will be
wiped away, right?
That comes out of Revelation 21.

(08:45):
Every tear wiped away.
Faith is believing in somethingthat you cannot see.
Science can't necessarily proveit, but I believe it with all my
soul, with all my heart, withall my might.
And there will become a day thatthe things that I believe I will
be able to see with my eyes.
That's faith-becoming sight.

(09:08):
So, this is what I want you toreceive from this story as
you're moving through your ownstory.
You may be in a place of loss orconfusion or betrayal or
overwhelm.
I have been there.
You may be in that place evennow as I'm speaking.

(09:28):
You may be asking, How can I sayit is well with my soul when
everything within me is is inpain, grieving.
But the answer is not trustingthe circumstance, right?
Life is going to life around youall the time.
It is going to keep swirling.

(09:49):
The sea billows are going tokeep rolling.
But God's presence reminds youthat you can anchor yourself
anchor your soul in what he hastaught you, even in the
darkness.
In your season of waiting, inyour season of uncertainty, in
your season of fear, this hymn,It Is Well With My Soul, can

(10:15):
become your anthem.
If you have never read all ofthe words to It Is Well with My
Soul, or you've never read thestory of Horatio Spafford, I
highly encourage you to do that.
There was a book series when mykids were little called Heroes
of the Faith.
You can probably find it at yourlibrary.

(10:37):
I know you can find it online.
Find a book about HoratioSpafford.
Read his story, read thetragedy, feel the grief, feel
the loss right along with him.
And then this hymn will hit sodifferently.
We can just go into church andwe can just sing words.

(10:59):
We can just sing the songs andwait for it to be over so that
we can hear from the pastor.
But sometimes a song hits sodeeply and so incredibly
transformative that it justchanges everything.
And for me, it is well with mysoul is one of those hymns.
Now, if you want more, I wantyou to know with every heart and

(11:23):
soul episode, I create a freejournaling guide.
And it includes scriptureprompts and questions to help
you reflect.
If you need to cry, lean into,and even hope.
And you can download it at thelink in the show notes.
And if you're sensing Godstirring a deeper shift in you,

(11:43):
if you're tired of feelingstuck, you're ready for someone
to walk with you into healingand alignment.
I would love to be the one tosupport you in that.
And you can explore what thatlooks like at
lemonvolumcoaching.com.
And your story, I want you toknow, because I know I felt this

(12:04):
way.
Your story is not too messy.
You do not have to be perfect toshow up before God.
God is writing beauty from theashes of your story right now.
Thank you for joining me forthis Heart and Soul Elevation
episode.
I hope that this story of thishymn anchors hope in your heart.

(12:29):
Before we close today, I havesome exciting news to share.
Something new and beautiful isunfolding here on Heart and Soul
Elevation.
God has asked me to pivot again.
And let me tell you, I am soexcited.
Coming soon, I'll be joined bymy dear friend and fellow
Kingdom Woman, StephaniePasniokis.

(12:50):
You may remember her fromepisode 14 of the Lemon Balm
Coaching Podcast.
Together, we'll be stepping intoa new format, real conversations
that weave scripture intoeveryday wellness.
We're talking spirit, mind, andbody alignment, all grounded in
truth, not trends.
These new episodes areespecially for women of faith

(13:11):
who are ready to turn down theworld's noise and tune into what
God is really saying.

We're building something here (13:16):
a trusted lighthouse for
soul-tired women seeking peace,clarity, and wholeness.
So stay with us.
God is doing a new beautifulthing, and you are invited.
Make sure you're subscribed soyou don't miss what's coming
next.
And if this episode blessed you,please share it with a friend
who could use some soulelevation today.

(13:39):
Until next time, keep seeking,keep listening, and keep saying
yes to what God is doing in yourlife.