When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
In all four of the Gospels, in their accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ it says that the guards cast lots to determine who would get the inner garment of Jesus. John 19:24 tells us that this was in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy of Psalm 22:18.
In Luke 1:9 the Bible says that it was the custom of the Jewish priests to cast lots to determine who would enter the Holy Place to perform the priestly duties.
In Acts 1:26 the Bible records that there were two men that the Apostles were considering to replace Judas as one of the 12 Apostles. After praying for the Lord to determine which one He would choose, they cast a lot and Matthias was the one chosen.
To cast lots would have been similar to the present day of playing Rock, Paper, Scissors or drawing sticks where one stick’s length is shorter than the rest (thus the saying, “he got the short end of the stick”) or rolling the dice to determine a winner or flipping a coin for heads or tails. It was not a gamble of resources with a wish for a return on those resources. It was a recognition that when faced with a decision or a direction in life and there is an equality in the choices, God controls the outcome even through something we would call chance.
In the Biblical structure there was a belief that God, in His absolute Sovereignty, would cause the results of the decision-making process. People may cast lots but God Himself would determine the outcome. What would now be viewed as a method of chance was then based on the absolute truth that God is intimately in control of the outcome.
This is what Horacio Spafford meant when he penned the words: “Whatever my lot.” Things in life that seem random, fate, chance, luck, or destiny, good or bad, are in fact lots in life that Sovereign God is in complete control of and those lots have divine purpose. We live life with an absolute belief that whatever my lot in life, God is sovereignly working out His purpose in me, for me, and through me. To believe this is to live by a faith that brings about a fortitude to trust God and His character in everything that comes my way. It is an unshakable conviction and trust that Almighty God is intimately orchestrating my life. Whether that lot produces peace or sorrow, God is at work. It is easier, when going through something that brings a sense of tranquility or happiness, to say it is well with my soul. While going through things in life that produce grief or sadness, to say it is well with my soul is challenging. To say “it is well with my soul” does not just mean the assurance of salvation. It is a declaration of faith built on the bedrock foundation of truth and trust that comes from knowing God, His workings, and His immutable nature.
It is this absolute assurance, faith, and trust that prepared Job for the worse day of his life. God had blessed Job with an impeccable reputation, great wealth, livestock (11,000), many servants, and 10 children (7 sons, 3 daughters). Then one day the reports came to him consecutively, before one report finished another started. Within minutes Job learned that he had lost everything: all his livestock stolen or dead, all his servants dead, and all his children dead. Some of these losses were at the hands of his enemies, while others were unusual natural disasters. Yet, even in his enormous grief, Job worshipped the Lord and said (Job 1:21-22):
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.
Basically, what Job was saying was, “Whatever my lot.” He says, “whatever I have received was given by the LORD and whatever has been removed was taken away by the LORD.” With that foundational belief, Job could say in every circumstance of life, “Blessed be the name of the LORD,” or “It is well with my soul.” With the absolute truth that Sovereign God is intimately involved in my life and when sorrow comes my way, when bad things happen, when life is not fair, when heartache is beyond measure, when all is lost, and grief is great, I still can bless the LORD and NOT blame Him. With absolute assurance we can know that God’s character is such that He is too good to do anything bad, He is too righteous to do anything wrong, He is too full of love, to do anything out of cruelty. His lovingkindness is good in nature, great in abundance, and everlasting in time. He is a God of compassion, mercy, and grace. His mercies are new every morning. (Lamentations 3:22-23)
In America’s Christian culture there are people who bless the Lord when something good happens but blames the Lord or Satan when something bad happens. This is very poor theology. While it is true that “the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) It is also true that Jesus said to Peter, “Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.” (Luke 22:31) As Job tells us, Satan is powerless unless he is given permission from the Lord. Although Satan is the deceiver who is out for destruction, nothing happens in life that is not from the permissive will of God. Paul said. “there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!” (2 Corinthians 12:7) He learned God’s divine purpose through that thorn was, “My [Jesus’] grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (12:9)
So, whatever our lot in life was given or has been taken away by the Lord. And the Lord has divine purpose in everything He does. When we blame God for things in life we speak “words without knowledge.” (Job 38:2) To blame God when something bad happens comes from pride. We think we know all there is to know about what has happened and in our infinite knowledge (sarcasm) we blame God. There is only one who is omniscient, and He is the Lord. When we don’t understand why something bad has happened, we can trust the Lord, His omniscience, and His wisdom to know what is best. If we take credit for something good that happens in life, we are, also, being prideful. For it is God who gives, and it is God who takes away. “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)
A testimony: When I was a child, I had what has since been identified as dyslexia; a neurological learning disability where the brain development has short-circuited in a way that jumbles up letters which makes it very difficult to process language when reading and writing. I especially remember in the third and fourth grade my mother would verbally quiz me every week to prepare me for my spelling test that came every Friday. It was a struggle but by Friday of every week, I could verbally spell every word she would quiz me on. She would say the word out loud, and I would spell it out loud. Yet, when I would get to the classroom and take out a blank sheet of paper, the teacher would say the word out loud, and we were supposed to spell it out on paper. Every word (and I mean every single word) would be misspelled on my paper. All the letters on the page would be jumbled up and make no sense. Remember, back then there was nothing known about what would cause this and I was labeled as a poor student with a learning disability, not paying attention, stupid, or just defiant.
Reading wasn’t any better. My fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Williams, would take me home with her after school, of course with my parents’ permission, and she would work with me on reading. By the end of my fourth-grade year I could just barely read the book that most learned to read in the first grade if not before; See Spot Run. The first spanking I got in school (definitely not the last) was in the third grade because I would never know where we were in the reading book when it came my turn to read out loud and I could barely read it even when I was told where I was supposed to start reading. The teacher thought I was just not paying attention and discipline was the way to correct that. Rather than blame the education system for those spankings, God used those spankings over the years to keep me from becoming an even bigger discipline problem.
I learned to HATE language, reading, and writing. I felt totally stupid, that something was wrong with me. And I really became a defiantly poor student all the way through High School. I developed tricks and traits that would help me pass from one grade level to the next. Whatever I had to do to just get a “C” on the report card, I would do. By the time that I got to high school, I would cheat or lie if I felt that would help me get the grade I needed. I remember just before graduating high school the principal said that I was graduating by the skin of my teeth. After I graduated Estela and I were dating. As she went into her Junior year, the principal called her into his office and told her she didn’t need to be dating me because I was a troublemaker. Being a defiantly poor student had translated into bad behavior.
As you can imagine this learning disability was very frustrating to me. It was especially and extremely frustrating for my mom and dad. Remember, there was absolutely nothing at that time known about dyslexia or any other neurological learning disability. My parents did everything they could to try to help me overcome this learning disability. They would have done anything to keep me from having to experience that disability that affected me so much throughout the first 18 years of my life (and still does some). I hated reading so much that my mother offered to pay me to read the comic paper that use to come in the Sunday morning newspaper, and I wouldn’t even read the comic paper for money because it made me feel so stupid. They helplessly watched me go through all those years of emotional destress, self-esteem problems, and some behavioral problems because of how that learning disability made me feel about myself.
What was my lot in life was simply an opportunity for God to exalt Himself in and through me. When I was 19 years-old God moved in me in such a way that was undeniable. He gave me such a hunger for Jesus Christ that I went to the small local Christian bookstore and bought my first copy of The Living Bible. The King James Version made absolutely no sense to the dyslexia me. My theme and claimed promise of God was Psalm 1:1-3 (look it up, it will help you). I started reading my Bible every day. The more I read the hungrier I got and the better I got at reading and understanding. I bought a dictionary, concordance, commentaries, and discipleship books. Reading became one of my most favorite things to do. Through a series of events, I did something I thought I would never do. I enrolled in a Junior College and after 2 years I graduated with an associate degree. Then I enrolled in a Bible College. After 4 years I graduated with a BA with a major in Bible. I learned Greek (koine) and Hebrew languages, theology, history, and learned to parse verbs, the declension of nouns, and how to diagram sentences, paragraphs, and books of the Bible. I even have eighteen hours toward a Master of Divinity degree. By the time I was 45 years old my library consisted of over 1000 books. It has been nothing short of a miracle.
Remember Mrs. Williams, my fourth-grade teacher? She became my favorite teacher and in the same year I went into High School she became the High School Counselor. See how God worked things out. During my High School years, I spent a lot of time in her office, and I give her a lot of credit for keeping me from dropping out and helping me graduate High School. We corresponded several times through my college years, and I sent her an invitation when I graduate with my BA Degree in 1984. I still have the gift she sent me when I graduated from Bible College. A brass book marker with an “A” on it. She knew it was a miracle of God. That it was only possible because of Jesus Christ and His finished work of the Cross. She passed away in 1992. If she had been alive in 2011, I would have sent her a copy of the book I wrote. I’m sure she would have been amazed at what God has done.
When I turned 45 years old in 2002, I had a massive heart attack that left me disabled…………
So, whatever your lot in life may be, know that it comes from the Lord and trust that He has a divine purpose in it. As you watch your children, grandchildren, siblings, parents, and friends struggle in their lots in life, be encouraged, God has a purpose for it and will glorifying Himself in and through them. Encourage yourself and others to delight in His word and meditate on it and God will cause prosperity, victory in whatever the struggle is. Nothing we go through in life is an accident. Every lot in life is an opportunity for God to work out His purpose and glorify Himself. He is worthy of our trust. All we have to do is learn to say, “It is well with my soul, blessed be the name of the Lord.”
