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The Desire of Ages
we call upon Him to save us, we shall not cry in vain. Though He
sorrowfully reproves our unbelief and self-confidence, He never fails
to give us the help we need. Whether on the land or on the sea, if we
have the Saviour in our hearts, there is no need of fear. Living faith
in the Redeemer will smooth the sea of life, and will deliver us from
danger in the way that He knows to be best.
There is another spiritual lesson in this miracle of the stilling of the
tempest. Every man’s experience testifies to the truth of the words of
Scripture, “The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest....
There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”
Isaiah 57:20, 21
. Sin
has destroyed our peace. While self is unsubdued, we can find no rest.
The masterful passions of the heart no human power can control. We
are as helpless here as were the disciples to quiet the raging storm. But
He who spoke peace to the billows of Galilee has spoken the word of
peace for every soul. However fierce the tempest, those who turn to
Jesus with the cry, “Lord, save us,” will find deliverance. His grace,
that reconciles the soul to God, quiets the strife of human passion,
and in His love the heart is at rest. “He maketh the storm a calm, so
that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be
quiet; so He bringeth them unto their desired haven.”
Psalm 107:29,
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30
. “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ.” “The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the
effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever.”
Romans 5:1
;
Isaiah 32:17
.
In the early morning the Saviour and His companions came to
shore, and the light of the rising sun touched sea and land as with the
benediction of peace. But no sooner had they stepped upon the beach
than their eyes were greeted by a sight more terrible than the fury of
the tempest. From some hiding place among the tombs, two madmen
rushed upon them as if to tear them in pieces. Hanging about these
men were parts of chains which they had broken in escaping from
confinement. Their flesh was torn and bleeding where they had cut
themselves with sharp stones. Their eyes glared out from their long
and matted hair, the very likeness of humanity seemed to have been
blotted out by the demons that possessed them, and they looked more
like wild beasts than like men.
The disciples and their companions fled in terror; but presently
they noticed that Jesus was not with them, and they turned to look for