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OUR HAVEN

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 18, 1903

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 29, No. 46.

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OUR HAVEN.

By Arthur Fox

“They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. For He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses. 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.” Ps. 107:23–30.
“THEIR desired haven,” is not an undiscovered country or a desolate coast chafed by storms and strewn with wrecks and lifeless bodies. Nor is it a bold, iron-bound shore, where mighty mountains rise, and mighty billows roar, to come too near to which is to be lost. No, it is none of these, but it is a haven in the fullest sense of the word! Entrance ample, water deep, anchorage secure, may be taken in all weathers; no blinding haze, no dreary night, no want, no sin. Ah, ’tis a desired HAVEN.
THE PILOT. He bringeth them; not, He driveth, as if behind; nor draweth, as if from some far-off spot, as the pole draws the needle of the compass by a cold and mighty attraction; but He bringeth as the reaper bringeth his sheaves; as the child bringeth the blind on their way, like darkness led by day; as the shepherd bringeth the sheep, or as the mother bringeth her babe, so Jesus bringeth His children into their desired haven.
O, then, let us praise God that we have such a blessed Pilot! He sounded the channel, took the bearings, mastered the details, made the chart, and now goes with the believer to perform the voyage. You ask who erected the beacon, placed the light-ship, anchored the buoy?—Christ, all Christ. When He came He found nothing done.
He did all, and did that all alone.
The great mass of humanity was drifting upon the seas to eternal ruin, without a pilot. Christians are but travelers; Jesus was the way-maker. They but pathfinders; He the path itself. While others slept, He prayed; while they scorned, He blessed; and when they took up stones He meekly asked: “For which of My good works do ye stone Me?”
O, Lamb of God, was ever pain, Was ever love like Thine?
He unites the pilot and commander in one, and never leaves nor forsakes His children. So put your trust in Him, for “He bringeth unto.” None founder under His command. No fog can baffle, no false signal can allure—’tis a friendly shore.
That is His way—not so short as you might like, nor so easy, but the true way, the sure way. Sometimes He brings to the wit’s end, makes men stagger, and the great billows which they think will bury them only lift them higher up into safety and peace. Often men can be brought to accept the Saviour in no other way than through trials.
Trials make the promise sweet; Trials give new life to prayer; Trials bring me to His feet, Lay me low, and keep me there.
Christ leads by the way of His own walking as well as His own making, and His people, therefore, should not murmur, but follow in His steps.
Come to Him; trust in His death on the cross as an atonement for your guilt. Take Him for your guide and portion; “So an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:11.
St. Helena, Cal. ARTHUR FOX.