As many of you know, I grew up the son of a Pastor. My dad once quipped when discussing meetings at the church that out of his five children, he had more meetings about me than the other four combined. The lock-ins, church camps, youth mission trips, etc. were fun and taught me a lot (including how to hide the trouble you were getting into a bit better), but one of the things I am most thankful for is the music in our church and our worship leaders. There were many times my dad would throw his sermon out, and we would spend the service in just worship. There were plenty of days he could have a lot to say, so these days were plenty welcome in a teenager’s life. Those that know me know how much I love all kinds of music. I am still so appreciative of those early days that gave me the appreciation for traditional hymns and what is called “contemporary Christian worship music,” and it certainly is influencing and helping me through this time as well.

I somewhat digressed in the above paragraph, but I was working toward the name Horatio Spafford. Horatio Spafford wrote the hymn “It Is Well With My Soul,” and like most hymns, they often contain amazing stories and backgrounds. I never knew the story behind this song until just a few years ago when I googled the hymn due to listening to Bethel Music’s “It Is Well.” What I found was an amazing story of tragedy, heartache, faith, and perseverance. So many times outside of hymns like Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art, etc. we don’t dig into the stories behind the song and the words. Here’s a glimpse into one of those stories:

“This hymn was written after traumatic events in Spafford’s life. The first two were the death of his two-year-old son and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer and had invested significantly in property in the area of Chicago that was extensively damaged by the great fire). His business interests were further hit by the economic downturn of 1873, at which time he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the SS Ville du Havre. In a late change of plan, he sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire. While crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sea vessel, the Loch Earn, and all four of Spafford’s daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, “Saved alone …”. Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died. Bliss called his tune Ville du Havre, from the name of the stricken vessel.”

What kind of faith gives someone like Spafford the ability to sit down, while at sea, in his cabin on a ship close to where he lost his children and write:

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know^a
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain
It is well, (it is well),
With my soul, (with my soul)
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

This is King David’s faith. This is conquering faith. This is what I have been praying for this month. Our next round of scans is upon us, and lots of doubts and anxiety are flooding in prior. In my first post, I talked about the mind being a battlefield, and it has been a struggle for the better part of the last half of this month. At times my attitude toward others has reflected that which only serves to allow me to appreciate my wife and family that much more. But, here is the thing I am still learning, and this process still can teach me so much. In many ways I am in my cabin over a shipwreck and have to decide what my response will be. And I am not the only one. As you are reading this, it could be something to do with your job, a move, a child, etc. Your shipwreck is just as relative to you today as mine is to me, and as Horatio Spafford chose to sing “It is Well…” all those years ago, I hope that you can take inspiration in that today. And sing/pray that into your soul as you walk through whatever it is that you are going through.

Mark 11:23-24 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

²³ Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. ²⁴ Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.

I love teachers of the Bible who can take some of the most obscure passages of scripture and make it relevant in our lives. A scripture or passage that when we are listening, doing our daily reading, etc. we never stopped to truly lean into what God could be saying. One of these scriptures for me comes from 1 Samuel 7:12. The prophet Samuel played a crucial role in a crucial moment of God’s people. But, back to the scripture that I want to share with you today: 12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” I know you are amazed at this moment. Wow, Caleb, you blew me away with that one, but stick with me for a moment. 

A little background on the scripture above it took the people of Israel a long time before they turned to Samuel to help them in restoring their relationship with God. Samuel had gathered the people in Mizpah before the above scripture, and it was here that Samuel prayed for the people. Still, the Philistines heard Israel were in Mizpah and used it as an opportunity to march on their enemies ( I promise to stop the history lesson here shortly and assure you I am getting to the point of all this). When Israel heard the Philistines were coming, they straight panicked. Much like in our own lives when we get the news that can take us back, whether it is about our kids, jobs, health, etc. I know what I want my response to be and what I pray for it to be, but those two things don’t always line up. Samuel responded by turning to God, and as he did, the enemy began their attack. But in the midst, God had heard Samuel and responded with an incredible display of power. To make a long story short, the Philistines were defeated before Israel that day. God had listened to the cries of his people and came to their rescue.

This is the point where we are introduced to the Ebenezer stone to celebrate God’s mighty intervention on behalf of his people. In Hebrew, Ebenezer means “stone of help.” So here is the point for me in all of this, and that is that I realize I haven’t celebrated enough of these victories in my own life. We need to spend more time celebrating these victories and celebrating one another. Whether it is a job, kids’ health, my amazing wife, my health, etc. There are so many distractions each day that take our eyes off the positive things happening in our lives and what God is doing, and many more things await us, but I pray that we will raise the stone of help like Samuel did all those years ago. His intent was not to give the people of Israel a day to remember their victory but something to celebrate and build on for months, years, and decades to come. A reminder of God’s help/blessing(s) not only that day but in times to come as well.

So I am raising my Ebenezer stone today for a couple of things in my own life. Last week I got my neck brace off and have started physical therapy, and this week we met with the oncologist on Tuesday after having our scan the previous Friday. My team of doctors continues to remain extremely positive. Before the trial, we had to clean and clear out the chemo so I was off treatment for over a month, and we have only been on the trial for three weeks before the scan. They typically look at a scan eight weeks into the trial, and that is also when they tend to find positive results. So I won’t lie as I was anxious and nervous not having had treatment for that month and been on this trial for such a short amount of time. But my doctor said there had been NO growth that we are stable and that we probably did see some decrease in the size but we did not have a CT scan prior that could serve as a marker. My doctor said that he is hopeful that we will now begin to see those decreases, and it honestly seems to be his expectation considering the initial response. By the way, stable is a positive term in cancer treatment and especially when you consider how aggressive my form is and was before getting to MD Anderson. We also had been told in the prior week from comments on the x-ray that we see “healing” in the bones. So far, so God. While it sucks to have this disease, it is hard not to feel humbled by many of the things happening.

So again, I want to encourage whoever is reading this to celebrate and set up your stone(s) continuously so that you can point to the victories when things aren’t so victorious. Below is one of my favorite Texas artists for quite a while now. This is one of his newest songs, but let’s celebrate and remember “people ain’t got it this good”: