The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1871-12-27

STILLING THE TEMPEST.

commands the winds and the water, and they
obey him." And that was what the storm
came for, and was hushed for, to set them
thinking of him, to give them truer thoug hts
of the present Rabbi, whom they loved but
did not understand, to teach them that He
was Lord of all, to win them to deeper
trust in Him.
That, too, is what our disasters and our
happy fortune come for, our tempests and
our calms, our perils and our deliverances'
They come to set us thinking of Him, whom,
in the quiet everyday course of our life, we
are apt to forget. They come to teach us that
He is always with US ordering all things ac-
cording to the good pleasure of His will;
and to constrain us to trust in Him instead
of in ourselves, by making us feel how ut
terly we are in His hands.
Sudden losses, sudden parting, suddar
dangers, overtake US; we never continue in
one stay; our life swings sharply from vicis-
situde to vicisitude, or heavily from grief to
grief For a little while we are at peace;
Gods lamp shines over our heads, and we
walk happily by its light; but in moment
the shadows darken round us, and the lamp
goes out, and we grope after God and can
not find Him. At an hour of which we
were not aware without any omen or warn
ing to prepare US, that for which we looked
not falls upon us-perhaps one of the very
last things we expected or had reason to ex-
pect. The child, a miracle of health and
beauty a moment since, lies cold at our feet;
the friend we most loved and trusted, fails
in the very qualities for which We would
have backed him against the world; the staff
on which we most relied fails US; the pros
perity which seemed as though it could never
be moved passes away in an instant. "Many
such things as these doeth God with man."
And when we ask, What is the meaning
of it all? the answer comes-"In the day
of prosperity and in the day of adversely, re-
member that God sends both this and that,
in order that men should not be able to
foresee that which is to come, and should
trust in him who is able to forsee it. The
surprises which befall US teach US how terri
bly, uncertain our life is, and all that we hold
dear in life; they teach us how Ignorant we
are, how impotent, how utterly in larger,
wiser hands than our own. And if we are
men indeed, and have discourse of reason,
we learn at last that our only hope of peace
lies in faith-in knowing, and trusting, and
serving Him who rules this world and all
worlds, who sets all our times upon the
score.
Danger is not dangerous, nor death dread
full, if Christ be with US and we have faith
in Him. We may go down in the storm, or
we may ride through storm into calm; but
in either case He saves US, and we can never
perish; for he that beleveth on Him hath
eternal life, the life over which time and the
changes of time have no power. "With
Christ in the vessel" we "may smile at the
Storm" but do we? All the sorrowful
changes of life are ours, and minister to our
good, if we are His, even to the last change
of all but it is hard for US to believe that
life and death, things present, and things to
come, are ours, because we are Christ's, and
Christ is Gods, and all things are His. A
true dependence on God makes US indepen-
dent of all beside; fearing. him, we have
nothing else to fear.
Perhaps so many storms and surprises fall
upon us, in order that we may learn this
lesson, and enter into the settled peace of
faith. When they come, let us not despair,
even though our faith be little or unready.
Let us rather remember how tender and
patient He was with the Twelve, how He
delivered them because they trusted in Him,
although their trust was neither pure nor
strong. From His grace to them, let us
learn that even an imperfect, selfish, up
braiding faith, SO that it appeal to Him,
may weather the storm, and come to know
better through danger, and deliverance, and
rebuke.
Christ was asleep in the boat, but He was
neither disabled nor indifferent. Had the
disciples but trusted in him, and baled out
the water that filled the boat, and run before
the storm, and sent their most skilful pilot
to the helm, all would have been well with
them; they would have not needed so much
as to awaken Him out of His sleep. But
this test was too hard for men of weak and
unapt faith. And it is often too much for
us. When our trial comes, Christ often
seems remote from US, or Indifferent to our
need and peril. Tapped in dreams in which
we have no part; and we grow frantic with
baselesS apprehenSions, and cry out on Him
"Master, carest thou not that we perishT
All, and how patient He is with US! how
meek and kind under our upbraidingl Oul
faith has failed US, and by our very failures
He sets us thinking-thinking how weak We
are, how good and great He is.
And then, when we know Him better, lie
repeats the trial. Again we are launched
on the sea, while He stands on the noun
tains of eternity, and prays for us that oul
faith fail not. Again the night falls, and
the sea works and becomes tempestuous. Bu
He comes with the storm, walking the waves
on which we are tossed; and if at first We