Dear friend, I hope all is well with you
and that you are as healthy in body
as you are strong in spirit.
(3 John 2 NLT)
Last summer our church lost a spiritual pillar and servant of the Lord Jesus Christ to a short battle with nasty cancer. Her absence is felt deeply by family and friends. Life goes on, but it is different; there is something – someone – missing. Yet, her legacy lives on in things like her family, the memory of her prayer-warrior nature, her servant leadership, and a phrase she said even as she was in her last days at the hospital – “All Is Well.” In honor of this dearly missed friend and under the Lord’s leading, our church’s women’s conference next winter will have this theme. All is well.
One day I sat down with those three short words – nine letters total – and thought about what they meant.
ALL – not just a part of something, but the entirety of it. At every time and place, in every circumstance.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV)
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. (Philippians 4:4 ESV)
IS – in the present, at this moment; not looking forward or back, but in this exact space of time
For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:1 NIV)
WELL – 1) contentment and peace
Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always. (Philippians 4:8 TPT)
So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together for good, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose. (Romans 8:28 TPT)
WELL – 2) the depth of Holy Spirit’s flow within us that is always available for us to tap into
Guard well this incomparable treasure by the Spirit of Holiness living within you. (2 Timothy 1:14 TPT)
There’s a lot to unpack in these words, but I will allow God to say what he needs to each of our individual hearts. As I remember this woman and look forward to the conference, I hear her voice saying, “All is well.” I believe that in her new eternal home, ALL truly is well.
If it’s difficult for you to say these words and fully believe them today, perhaps God’s call is for you to keep saying them, trusting and believing in his grace, standing firm in faith, and hoping in his plans and purposes until you can genuinely proclaim that All Is Well.
Where might God be speaking to you? Maybe the Spirit’s whisper is simply, “All is well.”
Grace-giving God,
Give us spiritual eyes and ears to hear your Voice. Help us to trust you that ALL things are under your care, both today and for tomorrow. Help us to draw deeply on your Spirit’s well and to trust and believe that, in Christ, ALL Is Well, we ask in Jesus’s name, AMEN.