(A Fragment.)
How easy it is when all things are smooth, to exercise faith in the power and goodness of the Lord! and with what fluency the tongue can talk, or the pen write, of his all-sufficiency when difficulties are out of sight! How readily then the poor heart takes credit to itself for “spiritual mindedness,” and thinks it “can do all things”! That the Lord is above all, is a truth known to every believer, but to mistake the knowledge of a truth for power to rest in it in the hour of difficulty and trial is self-complacency, and not faith. When Peter stood in the ship and saw Jesus walking on the water, nothing seemed easier. But when he was on the sea, what a difference it made! When in the ship, he was confident; when on the sea, he was terrified! In the ship, he could invite the trial; on the sea, he began to sink! In the ship, he judged that the Lord was all-sufficient to ensure his safety; on the sea, he cried, “I perish!” In the ship, he exclaimed, “Bid me come;” on the sea, “Lord, save me!” In the ship, his eye was on the Lord; but on the sea, it was upon the winds and waves. In the ship, he was self-complacent; therefore, on the sea, he sank. “Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.” “Be not high-minded, but fear.”