Sleeping Through the Storm

A young man applied for a job as a farmhand. 

When the farmer asked for his qualifications, he said, "I can sleep when the wind blows."

This puzzled the farmer. But he liked the young man, and hired him. 

A few days later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night by a violent storm. They quickly began to check things out to see if all was secure. They found that the shutters of the farmhouse had been securely fastened. A good supply of logs had been set next to the fireplace. The young man slept soundly. 

The farmer and his wife then inspected their property. They found that the farm tools had been placed in the storage shed, safe from the elements. The tractor had been moved into the garage. The barn was properly locked. Even the animals were calm. All was well. 

The farmer then understood the meaning of the young man's words, "I can sleep when the wind blows." Because the farmhand did his work loyally and faithfully when the skies were clear, he was prepared for the storm when it broke. 

So when the wind blew, he was not afraid. He could sleep in peace.  

The Pilot 

 “If you were on board a vessel, and had lost your bearings, you would be glad enough to see a pilot in the offing. Here he is on board, and you say, ‘Pilot, do you know where we are?’ ‘Yes,’ says he, ‘of course I do. I can tell you within a yard.’ ‘It is well, Mr. Pilot, but can you bring us to the port we want to make?’ 

‘Certainly,’ says he. 

‘Do you know the coast?’ 

‘Coast, sir! I know every bit of headland, and rock, and quicksand, as well as I know the cut of my face in a looking-glass. I have passed over every inch of it in all tides and all weathers. I am a child at home here.’ 

‘But, pilot, do you know that treacherous shoal?’ 

‘Yes, and I remember almost running aground upon it once, but we escaped just in time. I know all those sands as well as if they were my own children.’ You feel perfectly safe in such hands. 

Such is the qualification of Christ to pilot us to heaven. There is not a bay, or a creek, or a rock, or a sand between the Maelstrom of hell and the Fair Havens of heaven but what Christ has sounded all the deeps and the shallows, measured the force of the current, and seen the set of the stream; he knows how to steer so as to bring the ship right away by the best course into the heavenly harbour.”— Charles H. Spurgeon, 1874