Leave well enough alone

“I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

Psalm 4:8

To leave well enough alone means to avoid changing something because of the risk of making things worse. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it is another way of saying the same thing. This may have derived from Aesop’s Fable about a fox refusing a hedgehog’s help to shoo flies off him because only hungry ones would replace them.

What does it mean to be well? When asked this question, we automatically think of our health, to be free from an illness or pain. But it can also mean to be in a state of contentment, where we don’t feel anxious, fearful or apprehensive.

I love learning about the story behind a song, it gives us a glimpse into the life of the author and what circumstances prompted them to pick up a pen to put into words what was on their heart. Case in point is, It is Well with my Soul by Horatio G. Stafford. He was a successful lawyer in Chicago who endured unimaginable tragedy in his life when the ship his wife and four daughters were on collided with another and sank with only his wife surviving. As he traveled to Europe to greet his grieving wife, he penned the words to this hymn on his journey.

He was truly a godly man who loved the Lord. He writes, “When peace, like a river, attendeth my way. When sorrows like sea-billows roll; … It is well with my soul.” Although this man was broken inside, he knew he could find rest in his soul because he knew the Lord. Through his pain, he wrote one of the most beloved hymns ever written.

Life throws us punches sometimes we’re unprepared for but the Lord will never abandon or leave us stranded when we seek Him to restore our peace. Just as Horatio did, we have to always keep things in perspective and never stop praising our Lord.