The phrase “it is well” comes from one of the most painful moments in Scripture.
A Shunammite woman’s son died. She laid his body on the prophet’s bed, saddled her donkey, and rode to find Elisha.
When his servant ran out to ask if she was alright, if her husband was alright, if her son was alright, she said a single phrase: it is well.
Her son was dead. Her grief was real.
She had not processed a theological statement and arrived at peace.
She had decided that the God who gave was still the God who held, even when what he gave had been taken back.
And she rode toward the one who could do something about it.
“It is well” in Scripture is not a declaration that everything is fine. It is a declaration that the God who holds everything is fine, and that the person speaking has chosen to orient themselves toward him rather than toward the catastrophe.
Every verse below is a piece of the same declaration, offered from different angles and different seasons, by people who had every reason to say otherwise and chose to say it is well instead.
The God Who Makes All Things Well
1. The Lord Is Good, and His Love Endures Forever
“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” — NIV, Psalm 118:1
The statement that God is good is not conditioned on circumstances.
It is the theological anchor from which “it is well” derives its stability.
2. All Things Work Together for Good
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” — ESV, Romans 8:28
All things is the phrase that makes this verse hard and hopeful simultaneously.
Not some things. Not the pleasant things. All of them are working together.
3. He Works All Things After the Counsel of His Will
“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” — ESV, Ephesians 1:11
Everything happening in your life is operating within the counsel of a will that has not been surprised.
What looks like chaos is inside a plan.
4. The Lord Is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” — ESV, Psalm 23:1
The declaration of no want is made before the difficult terrain of verse 4 is described.
It is well is possible in the valley because the shepherd was already named before the valley arrived.
5. He Makes All Things Beautiful in Its Time
“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” — ESV, Ecclesiastes 3:11
The beauty is not visible in every moment.
The promise is that the maker of time knows which moment the beauty is for.
It Is Well Because of Who God Is
6. God Is Our Refuge and Strength
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” — ESV, Psalm 46:1
The reason it is well in trouble is not that the trouble is manageable.
It is that the refuge is present and the strength is available.
7. The Lord Is Close to the Brokenhearted
“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” — ESV, Psalm 34:18
It is well not because the heart is not broken but because the one who is close to the broken heart is the one who heals it.
The nearness is the assurance.
8. He Will Never Leave You Nor Forsake You
“For he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.'” — ESV, Hebrews 13:5
The single most stabilizing truth in the Christian life is that the presence of God is unconditional and permanent.
It is well because you are never alone in any of it.
9. His Steadfast Love Endures Forever
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” — ESV, Lamentations 3:22–23
Jeremiah wrote this in the middle of Jerusalem’s destruction.
The steadfast love he declared was not visible in the rubble. It was true in spite of the rubble.
10. He Is the Same Yesterday, Today, and Forever
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” — ESV, Hebrews 13:8
The one who held you through every previous difficulty is the same one holding you now.
Nothing about who he is has changed while everything else was changing.
It Is Well Because of What He Has Promised
11. No Good Thing Will He Withhold
“For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” — ESV, Psalm 84:11
The thing being withheld right now is either not good or not yet time.
Both possibilities are consistent with a God who is managing things well.
12. He Who Began a Good Work Will Complete It
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” — ESV, Philippians 1:6
The incomplete season is not an abandoned project.
It is an ongoing construction that the contractor has committed to finishing.
13. The Plans He Has Are for Welfare
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” — ESV, Jeremiah 29:11
This was spoken to people in exile.
God’s plans for welfare did not wait for the exile to end before being true.
14. I Will Never Stop Doing Good to You
“I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.” — ESV, Jeremiah 32:41
God declared his own motivation: with all my heart and all my soul.
The commitment to your good is not casual or contractual. It is wholehearted.
Peace in the Storm: The Experience of It Is Well
15. The Peace That Surpasses Understanding
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” — ESV, Philippians 4:7
The peace that says it is well does not require understanding how everything will resolve.
It surpasses understanding, which means it arrives before the resolution does.
16. You Keep Him in Perfect Peace
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” — ESV, Isaiah 26:3
Perfect peace is available to the mind that stays on God.
The staying is the discipline. The peace is the result.
17. Though the Fig Tree Does Not Blossom
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” — ESV, Habakkuk 3:17–18
Habakkuk listed every category of visible blessing failing.
And said yet I will rejoice. That is the full grammar of it is well spoken from the worst possible conditions.
18. I Have Learned in Whatever State to Be Content
“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” — ESV, Philippians 4:11
Contentment is learned, not natural.
Paul said this from prison. It is well is not passive acceptance. It is practiced trust.
The Assurance of Things Not Yet Seen
19. Weeping Lasts for the Night, but Joy Comes in the Morning
“For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” — ESV, Psalm 30:5
The night of the current season is not the final word.
The morning is built into the same promise that acknowledges the weeping.
20. He Will Wipe Away Every Tear
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” — ESV, Revelation 21:4
The ultimate it is well is not for this age.
But its arrival is as certain as the one who promised it.
21. Our Present Sufferings Are Not Worth Comparing
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” — ESV, Romans 8:18
Paul had a suffering catalogue that would silence most complaints.
And he said it is not worth comparing. The final it is well makes the present suffering look like a brief preface.
Choosing to Say It Is Well
22. This Is the Day the Lord Has Made
“This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” — ESV, Psalm 118:24
The day being declared good is not necessarily a pleasant day.
Psalm 118 is a psalm of survival, not comfort. The rejoicing is a declaration, not a mood.
23. I Know Whom I Have Believed
“But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.” — ESV, 2 Timothy 1:12
Paul’s confidence was not in his circumstances.
It was in the character of the one who held everything he had entrusted. That is the final grammar of it is well.
Questions People Ask About “It Is Well” and the Bible
Where does “it is well” come from in the Bible?
The phrase originates in 2 Kings 4:26, where the Shunammite woman whose son had died responded to Elisha’s servant’s inquiry by saying “it is well.” The famous hymn “It Is Well With My Soul” was written by Horatio Spafford in 1873 after the death of his daughters, drawing on similar theological conviction.
What does it mean to say “it is well” as a Christian?
It means choosing to declare God’s goodness and sovereignty over a situation rather than allowing the situation to define your theological position. It is not denial of pain or pretense that everything is fine. It is the decision to orient toward God’s character rather than toward the circumstances, as the Shunammite woman did.
Is “it is well with my soul” a biblical phrase?
The exact phrase comes from the hymn by Horatio Spafford, not directly from Scripture. But the theology is thoroughly biblical. Romans 8:28, Psalm 23, Philippians 4:7, and Habakkuk 3:17–18 all express the same conviction in different forms: that the soul can be at peace with God even when the circumstances are not at peace.
How do you maintain peace when everything is going wrong?
Philippians 4:6–7 prescribes prayer with thanksgiving as the pathway to peace that surpasses understanding. Isaiah 26:3 connects peace to the mind stayed on God. Habakkuk 3:17–18 models the decision to rejoice in God when every visible blessing has failed. Peace in difficulty is a practiced, deliberate orientation, not an accidental mood.
What Bible verse says God will make everything okay?
Romans 8:28 says all things work together for good for those who love God. Jeremiah 29:11 declares plans for welfare and a future. Revelation 21:4 promises the final elimination of all pain, mourning, and death. These are not promises that everything will be comfortable now, but that God is working toward a final good that cannot fail.
Lord, I Choose to Say It Is Well Even Before I Feel It
Father, the Shunammite woman rode toward you with her dead son still on the prophet’s bed.
She did not pretend he was alive.
She did not perform peace she did not have.
She rode toward the one who could do something about it and said: it is well.
I want to be that person today.
I am not pretending the situation is fine.
I am not performing a faith I do not feel.
I am choosing to ride toward you in the middle of what is broken, what is unresolved, what is not yet what it should be, and say: it is well.
Because you are good.
Because your love endures forever.
Because all things are working together even when I cannot see the together part.
Because you have never left and you will not start now.
It is well.
Not because the circumstances say so.
But because you do.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
