Constrained To Meet The Storm
“And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side…”
Matthew 14:22 KJV
Jesus constrained them to go! One would think that if ever there was the certain promise of success in a mission, it was here. Surely, here, if anywhere, a triumphant issue might have been confidently predicted; and yet here, more than anywhere, there was seeming failure. He sent them out on a voyage, and they met such a storm as they had never yet experienced.
Let me ponder this, for it has been so with me, too. I have sometimes felt myself impelled to act by an influence which seemed above me—constrained to put to sea. The belief that I was constrained gave me confidence, and I was sure of a calm voyage. But the result was outward failure. The calm became a storm; the sea raged, the winds roared, the ship tossed in the midst of the waves, and my enterprise was wrecked ere it could reach the land.
Was, then, my divine command a delusion?
Nay; nor yet was my mission a failure. He did send me on that voyage, but He did not send me for my purpose. He had one end and I had another. My end was the outward calm; His was my meeting with the storm. My end was to gain the harbor of a material rest; His was to teach me there is a rest even on the open sea.—George Matheson.
One Comment
Vernon Olds
I’m 73 years old and about the age of 12 my Dad now in the arms of Jesus took me with him to Camp Zion. As I remember it was supercharged by the Holy Spirit. The sermons so powerful that some men who were already preaching actually admitted that they were lost and in need of a Savior. What triggered this memory is green beans and new potatoes. We had them every day it seemed. I’m actually sitting with a bowl of green beans in my lap as I write this. At my age and in my physical condition I have a hunger for the spiritual haven that I remember the camp to be. Churches are so impotent these days. Most church music is very low quality. Preachers have to preach to an congregation that is now prepared to hear the truth of God’s word! Even so my soul grasps every morsel of spiritual nourishment I can get! If I were not in the middle of harvest of our garden I would seriously consider attending the camp again!