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

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.

Download Your Heart & Soul Elevation Journal Pages HERE: 

It’s time to rediscover YOU. Join the Reignite Your Flame Facebook group—a supportive community where women like you find peace, joy, and purpose. Together, we’ll nurture your mind, body, and spirit so you can shine again.  Don’t wait to start your journey back to yourself. 
Join Reignite Your Flame HERE

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & Sacred Pause
• 0:50 A Small Church, A Big Sound
• 2:35 The Story Behind the Hymn
• 5:14 Grief Named, Hope Anchored
• 7:10 Faith Becoming Sight
• 9:20 Making “It Is Well” Your Anthem
• 11:18 Resources & Coaching Invitation
• 12:29 Big Pivot: New Co-Host & Vision
• 13:29 Subscribe, Share, Stay the Course

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:06

Welcome to Heart and Soul Elevation. This is a sacred pause in your week to recalibrate your spirit. I'm Melissa, Christian life coach, woman of deep faith, and steward of both intuitive wisdom and grounded truth. Each heart and soul elevation episode, I'll share scripture, a reflection, and encouragement to lift your eyes, quiet the noise, and help you reconnect with the God who sees you and knows you. Let's take a deep breath and begin. I want to start right here with you, right where we live. We live in this tension between the ordinary and the sacred. Now, I didn't grow up in church. We didn't go to church every Sunday. We didn't go to church at all. Like not even Christmas and Easter. We weren't church-going people. I didn't come to know the Lord until I was an adult. And since that time, I've been to many different churches because we moved around a lot in our family, being a military family. And we've been a part of many different churches, seen a lot of different worship styles, hymn only, worship only, a blend of the two. I mean, we've been around the block a few times. But a couple of Sundays ago, the church that I attend, which is the House of Worship right here in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, at the very end of our worship service, we sang It Is Well with My Soul. And something really magical happened. Right now, there are not a lot of physical bodies sitting in the pews. Not a whole lot of people present on Sunday mornings. But I'm going to tell you, the church was full of the sound of this hymn. Like it was almost as if the roof came off and all of the host of heaven were singing with us. It was that incredible. And our congregation, like I said, it's small, but the harmonies filled the sanctuary. And it sounded, it sounded like a choir. And it felt like heaven's veil was pulled back. And worship has the power to carry our souls all the way up to heaven's courts if we will allow it. Even when we don't know the words or we're not part of the tradition of church, some songs just have a way of breaking through. And we're going to talk about this hymn, It Is Well with My Soul, how it is rooted in true, tragic, deep sorrow, but holds hope. You ready? Okay, so we're going to talk about the story real quick. Horatio Gates Spafford was a lawyer and he was a passionate follower of Jesus who invested his money in ministry and also his community. He was prosperous. He had big dreams, but life began to break around him. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed much of his real estate. And along with that, a lot of his investments. And around that time, his young son died of scarlet fever. And in 1873, he planned a trip with his family to Europe, but business obligations kept him back in Chicago. So his wife Anna and their four daughters went ahead of him. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship collided with another vessel and sank. Sank so quickly that more than 200 lives were lost, including Spafford's four daughters. His wife Anna survived. Anna sent Horatio a telegram that said, simply saved alone. Grief-stricken, Horatio set sail immediately to meet her in Europe. And at some point during the voyage, the captain announced that they were nearing the place where that ship had sunk. In that place of heartbreak, Horatio Spafford penned the words that would become the beloved hymn, It Is Well With My Soul. He was not writing from a place of peace, right? He was writing from this place of tragic loss. He was devastated at the loss of his family. But he wrote those words. And those words bring so much comfort to us today when we sing them. Spafford wrote, 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. He was naming the realities of life, right? The sea billows rolling, but he was also naming the sorrow. And I want to just pause right there, real quick. Whatever you're going through, whatever you're facing right now, it is valid. Many times, and I've heard this from so many people, they'll say things like, Well, I don't have it as bad as, or they're worse off than I am. That does not negate what you're going through. Yes, we can be positive. Yes, we can look for the silver linings. Yes, we absolutely can pray and seek God more in the midst of our trials and our struggles. But that does not erase the ache in your heart. I cannot believe for one second that Horatio Spafford in that moment felt all of his pain erased. But what he gives us is a posture that we can take. Whatever my lot, whatever comes my way, whatever sea billows roll, whatever grief I'm facing, whatever loss I'm experiencing, God has taught us to say, it is well with my soul. What he's writing doesn't erase the waves, it doesn't erase the pain, it doesn't erase the grief. He doesn't ever pretend that the sea never rose, he doesn't pretend that the ship didn't sink. But what he did do was he anchored his soul in what God taught him. And I want to say with all the sincerity and clarity that I can, that that is the difference between what the world tells us peace is and the peace that actually comes from God. Worldly peace is absence of strife, right? Supernatural peace is whatever my 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 verses stanzas that point forward to the day when our faith becomes sight. He said, He wrote, And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll. The trumpet shall resound and the Lord shall descend, even so it is well with my soul. And when we were singing this in church, oh my word, I'm telling you, it is as if the clouds were rolled back and the host of heaven joined in with us. The sound that resonated inside that sanctuary was as if it was full of people, it was crazy ridiculous. I stood there with my eyes closed, just listening and harmonizing and worshiping. It was incredible. Now, what Horatio was doing here wasn't wishing. He wasn't wishing for the future. He wasn't just like how we use the word hope. Oh, I hope that comes true. He was looking forward to the day when every tear will be wiped away, right? That comes out of Revelation 21. Every tear wiped away. Faith is believing in something that you cannot see. Science can't necessarily prove it, but I believe it with all my soul, with all my heart, with all my might. And there will become a day that the things that I believe I will be able to see with my eyes. That's faith-becoming sight. So, this is what I want you to receive from this story as you're moving through your own story. You may be in a place of loss or confusion or betrayal or overwhelm. I have been there. You may be in that place even now as I'm speaking. You may be asking, How can I say it is well with my soul when everything within me is is in pain, grieving. But the answer is not trusting the circumstance, right? Life is going to life around you all the time. It is going to keep swirling. The sea billows are going to keep rolling. But God's presence reminds you that you can anchor yourself anchor your soul in what he has taught you, even in the darkness. In your season of waiting, in your season of uncertainty, in your season of fear, this hymn, It Is Well With My Soul, can become your anthem. If you have never read all of the words to It Is Well with My Soul, or you've never read the story of Horatio Spafford, I highly encourage you to do that. There was a book series when my kids were little called Heroes of the Faith. You can probably find it at your library. I know you can find it online. Find a book about Horatio Spafford. Read his story, read the tragedy, feel the grief, feel the loss right along with him. And then this hymn will hit so differently. We can just go into church and we can just sing words. We can just sing the songs and wait for it to be over so that we can hear from the pastor. But sometimes a song hits so deeply and so incredibly transformative that it just changes everything. And for me, it is well with my soul is one of those hymns. Now, if you want more, I want you to know with every heart and soul episode, I create a free journaling guide. And it includes scripture prompts and questions to help you reflect. If you need to cry, lean into, and even hope. And you can download it at the link in the show notes. And if you're sensing God stirring a deeper shift in you, if you're tired of feeling stuck, you're ready for someone to walk with you into healing and alignment. I would love to be the one to support you in that. And you can explore what that looks like at lemonvolumcoaching.com. And your story, I want you to know, because I know I felt this way. Your story is not too messy. You do not have to be perfect to show up before God. God is writing beauty from the ashes of your story right now. Thank you for joining me for this Heart and Soul Elevation episode. I hope that this story of this hymn anchors hope in your heart. Before we close today, I have some exciting news to share. Something new and beautiful is unfolding here on Heart and Soul Elevation. God has asked me to pivot again. And let me tell you, I am so excited. Coming soon, I'll be joined by my dear friend and fellow Kingdom Woman, Stephanie Pasniokis. You may remember her from episode 14 of the Lemon Balm Coaching Podcast. Together, we'll be stepping into a new format, real conversations that weave scripture into everyday wellness. We're talking spirit, mind, and body alignment, all grounded in truth, not trends. These new episodes are especially for women of faith who are ready to turn down the world's noise and tune into what God is really saying. We're building something here: a trusted lighthouse for soul-tired women seeking peace, clarity, and wholeness. So stay with us. God is doing a new beautiful thing, and you are invited. Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss what's coming next. And if this episode blessed you, please share it with a friend who could use some soul elevation today. Until next time, keep seeking, keep listening, and keep saying yes to what God is doing in your life.