4
4
There was a time in the story of Dohnavur when the work which meant far more than life to us all was tossed about and beaten upon like the little ship on the sea of Galilee. It seemed impossible that it should survive, it was so helpless, so defenseless in the eyes of men. One day, it was a very turbulent day, the thought of that ship in the teeth of the gale was like light breaking through the rack that was tearing across the sky, and our hearts kept on saying over and over, “What matter beating wind and tossing billow if only we are in the boat with Thee?” till at last the word was spoken, “Peace, be still”; and there was a great calm.
And so, as one who has known the blowing of the winds, I say to the fearful, “Fear not. There is nothing to fear, nor ever can be, if our Lord be in the boat. O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him. There is nothing too kind for Him to do for the man that trusteth in Him.”
The trial of the hour may be of the body, of the mind and spirit, or of circumstances; whatever it be, the same love can comfort: “If your Lord call you to suffering, be not dismayed; there shall be a new allowance of the King for you when you come to it.”
We are not at the mercy of wind and wave. We live a double life. Forces of distress may assail us (as they continually assailed our Lord), and we are called to labor from the rising of the morning till the stars appear, and yet all the time in the inner life of the spirit we are marvelously quickened, and raised up and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
The words In heavenly places in Christ Jesus are hung over the door of the room where this book is being written. The room has known many uses. Sick children have been nursed here. It has been office and playroom and prayer room at different hours of the same day. It is no cloistered cell. The words over the door have often helped its owner to live that double life.