It is ten o’clock and all is well. No, despite what some youngsters might think, I was never a town crier. I’m old, but not that old. It just seems I do most of my writing between 10:00 pm and midnight after making my rounds to be sure the door is locked and unnecessary lights are off. The closest thing to the town crier in my life is the grandfather clock in my living room that softly chimes on the hour and assuredly counts off the time even while I sleep (when I remember to wind it).
When my father retired, he and my step-mother moved back to a small rural town in southern Indiana. For a while, he was the town’s night watchman. He would take up an observation post in the town square and contact the State Police on his two-way radio to let them know he was on duty and make sure communications were working properly in case he needed to call them in. He was on the lookout for burglars, vandals and rowdy teenagers looking for trouble. For many centuries, towns have hired guards or sentries to make sure all was well while they slept. As Christians, we can be sure God is watching over us as we sleep, but is all really well in your life? In this time of uncertainty and pressure, it may seem almost nothing is truly well. But if we concentrate, we can still find so much for which to thank God.
It was at the most unwell time in his life that Horatio Spafford penned the words to his inspiring and well-known hymn “It is well with my soul”. He had just received word that his wife and child were lost at sea during a storm. I don’t need to repeat those familiar words here, but I do return to them whenever I need comfort and reassurance. That hymn has such power because it was written in the greatest storm of his life.
Shakespeare wrote, “All’s well that ends well.” As sons and daughters of God and readers of His word, we know how well our story will end. Whether it is at the end of our life or at the rapture, the ending could not be better for us. So let us, as Horatio Spafford, believe that all is well in our life even now in spite of the storms that surround us.