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‘And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.’
Mar_4:39
I. How is a calm mind to be attained?—Is there a stilling influence anywhere which can hush the risings, and the changings, and the swellings of my soul? I believe, and am sure, that the one answer to the question is Christ. He, and nothing else but He, can really and effectually say, ‘Peace, be still.’
II. Consider Jesus as the stiller of the heart.—He was most eminently a still character. The greatest force of energy and the largest activity of mind and body are not only compatible with stillness, but they go to make it. The persons of the largest power and the most telling action are generally the quietest. They may owe it to discipline and drill—and perhaps Christ Himself did—but they show themselves reined in and well-ordered. But we cannot think of Christ, the Man who should not ‘strive’ or ‘cry,’ so unruffled in scenes the most exasperating; so mildly answering the most angry words, without the deepest impression of the steady balance of that adjusted mind. And to Whom, therefore, in a beautiful exercise of retributive justice, it belongs to create the stillnesses of the human heart.
III. The want of religious peace lies at the root of all that is trouble to the mind. A man at peace with God will necessarily be at peace with his own conscience. And if a man is at once at peace with himself, he will never have his feelings greatly moved and aggravated by any external things whatsoever. For if all is right with God, what does it much matter about all the rest?
IV. A man’s relation to the world.—The believer’s relation to God’s mind is peace and love; and, therefore, it will be peace and love to his fellow-creatures. And it is a very subduing and humble thing to feel pardon and love. There is nothing in the world so humbling as to be loved. And what are all tossings of the mind?—pride; and what is quietness?—humility.
V. It is the office and prerogative of Christ to give quietness.—And if He gives this, who then can make trouble! You may have a desperate conflict with some passion, but there is a greater with you than all that is against you—greater than that poor, weak heart of yours.