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‘And there was a great calm.’
Mat_8:26
I. An act of supernatural power.—The first thing is this: it must be by an act of supernatural power. It is not in man to hush himself to rest. There must be a Divine command, ‘Peace, be still!’ And we must listen for this stilling voice, which the ear of faith can hear even in a hurricane!
II. A secret power.—Akin to this, there is a secret power—pervading and over-ruling all the confusion and all the mystery—which gives everything a purpose, and a preordained limit, which it cannot pass. The wind and storm may rage as forces which appear to own no control; but, nevertheless, they are ‘the winds and storms fulfilling Thy word.’
III. The presence of Christ.—The simple presence of Christ in that ship would have been enough without the miracle! Could anything really hurt that, where He was? We have all felt the calm and peace of the companionship even of a man whom we love and trust. What must it be, if we could only realise it, that Jesus is here, a Brother, a Saviour, a God, at our very side. And nothing can change that.
IV. The discipline of life.—Nevertheless, there will be, and there must be storms; and there will be, and there must be calms; and strangely set, in wonderful order, so long as this world lasts. It does not follow, because smooth to-day, we shall not be tossed again to-morrow. To believe in ‘calm’ when the ‘storm’ is raging is what we all have to learn. To every storm there is a lull; and in God’s equal equipoise, the fury of the tempest will always be balanced by the sweetness of the calm.
The Rev. James Vaughan.
Illustration‘St. Augustine says: “We are sailing in this life as through a sea, and the wind rises, and storms of temptation are not wanting. Whence is this, save because Jesus is sleeping in thee? If He were not sleeping in thee, thou wouldst have calm within. But what means this, that Jesus is sleeping in thee, save that thy faith, which is from Jesus, is slumbering in thine heart? What shalt thou do to be delivered? Arouse Him and say, Master, we perish. He will awaken; that is, thy faith will return to thee and abide with thee always. When Christ is awakened, though the tempest beat into yet it will not fill thy ship; thy faith will now command the winds and the waves, and the danger will be over.” ’