WHEN DAY BROKE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23084, 9 January 1937, Page 21

WHEN DAY BROKE

Written for the Otago Daily Times By the Rev. D. Gardner Miller If ever there was an exciting chapter in' any book of real adventure it is the 27th Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. Every time I read it my blood races. It is concentrated feeling and action to such a degree that in, roughly, a thousand words is told a tale of the sea that would provide matter for a modern writer to produce a book. There are peak moments jn this chapter that are intensely dramatic —the for instance, when tl'ie prisoner, Paul, stood on the heaving deck in the midst of the raging storm, after the ship’s gear had been thrown overboard, and told all on board to have no fear, because God had given him a message that all would be well. “ I believe God,” the noise of the snarling waves. "I believe God,” and somehow those who heard him felt hope creeping back into their hearts. Take that other mipment, that wearisome moment, just before dawn, when Paul, after an attempted act of villainy by some sailors, counselled all on board, 76 all told, to eat some food. They had been 14 days without a proper meal and their condition, physically and mentally must have been at low ebb. “Take some food, I beg of you; it will keep you alive You are going to be saved! Not a hair of your heads will perish.” Brave words of a brave man! He was brave because he knew that God was greater than circumstances. Notice what follows! He took a loaf and, after thanking God, in presence of them all, broke it and began to qat. How typically Christian that was! How like Jesus! I have never seen a painting of this terrifflc storm and this indomitable man, but here there is materia] for half a dozen masterpieces. But the “ moment ” that has always gripped me is the moment when day broke and they saw the shadowy outline of land. It must have been a moment of immense relief. They had been on nodding terms with death, night and day, for a fortnight, but now, thank God, they were within sight of security. When it became a little clearer they saw a creek with a sandy beach —a little cove that meant safety, warmth, sleep, food, life.

Never would those who had come through that terrible experience ever forget that dawn. It would become a marked day in their lives. I think most of us have a memory of a day breaking that ended a night of doubt and sorrow —maybe nameless terror—and began a new day of hope. Someone in the home has been ill for a long time and fears began to creep round the heart that there was no betterment coming. Then one day things, as we say, took a turn for the better. Slowly health came back, fears were dismissed, and once again the sun shone. The day had broken and the night receded. To others there may have been a long time of unemployment, and slowly but surely bitterness began to take charge. But there came a day when hands and head were employed again. Bitterness fled and hope returned. I mentioned last week two men, broken and bitter, who had come to me in their great need. For them, the day broke and a tremendous light began to shine across their pathway. the crew and passengers in the ship that we have been speaking about, these two men, storm-tossed and desperate, had caught a glimpse of land. They have both been to see me again, and the day for them has brightened. They are now ashore, and, although the road before them is rough and uncertain, they are facing it bravely. Their long night of sin and shame, remorse and regfet, has ended. “ The day broke ” for them. There is always a daybreak in every human life. Unifortunately many miss it by refusing to pull up the blinds. There was once an old man who continually grumbled at everything. He said he was losing his eyesight and that nobody cared whether he lived or died. One day a neighbour looked in, and to her the grumpy sinner began spilling his tale. “My eyes are so bad,” he said, “ I can’t see properly.” “ There’s nothing the matter with your eyes,” said the brisk neighbour; “ what’s wrong here is your windows are filthy.” And she cleaned them, and the light shone in, and the disgruntled old man found his eyes were quite good. It is a terrible pity when folks learn to love the gloom. They forget that it is in the gloom that the fears and the miseries and the spleens and the jealousies spawn. There is nothing like letting the light shine in to destroy the works of darkness. As I read this thrilling chapter of the Acts and when I came to that moment when “ the day broke.” I was immediately reminded of another “daybreak” in the Gospel of John, the last chapter. Here is a story of failure and heart-break. The disciples were at their wit’send. But, notice, “at break of day, Jesus was standing on the beach.” And what a difference His presence made to those tired, dispirited men' Jesus is always there just at the moment you need Him. .Wherever He is day breaks. Your troubles are not taken away, they are shared. Hope doesn’t come in_ full-grown, but as the day advances it expands until the life is full of anticipation. I am quite sure that night and disaster can never hold any of us prisoner for ever. Day is always waiting to break through. Don’t shut your eyes to disaster and possible shipwreck; keep them open and by and by you will see right through, and there, waiting on the dim outline of a new day is One waiting to cheer you and accompany you the rest of the way. Never despair. There’s always a daybreak. SOMETHING TO READ Four booklets have come to hand, published at threepence each, which are excellent for that odd half-hour when you feel you want to read something different:—“ Prayer,” by W. E. Sangster; “ Belief in God,” by Harold Roberts; “The Trustworthiness of the Gospels,” by J. A. Findlay; and “The Fact of Immortality,” by A. Gordon James. All are good, the one on Immortality being the clearest, simplest and most helpful statement I have come across in such limited space. I cordially commend them all to your notice.