Meet It
When an eagle glides on the wind, it cannot move with the wind. It must go against the wind to stay up, So we, when we see a temptation, cannot run away and still overcome it. When an army goes to battle they know well enough that to flee means to accept defeat. If we flee we accept defeat..
Therefore we must not flee, but fight the temptation, and with God’s help overcome it. As the cry rang out on the Titanic, “Iceberg ahead”, the fatal command was given to try to avoid it. And the Titanic sank. If the command had been, “Meet it” the Titanic would have stood a good chance of survival.
“Shortly before I sent out the testimonies regarding the efforts of the enemy to undermine the foundation of our faith through the dissemination of seductive theories, I had read an incident about a ship in a fog meeting an iceberg. For several nights I slept but little. I seemed to be bowed down as a cart beneath sheaves. One night a scene was clearly presented before me. A vessel was upon the waters, in a heavy fog. Suddenly the lookout cried, ‘Iceberg just ahead!’ There, towering high above the ship, was a gigantic iceberg. An authoritative voice tried out, “Meet it!” There was not a moment’s hesitation. It was a time for instant action. The engineer put on full steam, and the man at the wheel steered the ship straight into the iceberg. With a crash she struck the ice. There was a fearful shock, and the iceberg broke into many pieces, falling with a noise like thunder to the deck. The passengers were violently shaken by the force of the collisions, but no lives were lost. The vessel was injured, but not beyond repair. She rebounded from the contact, trembling from stem to stem, like a living creature. Then she moved forward on her way.
“Well I knew the meaning of this representation. I had my orders. I had heard the words, like a voice from our Captain, ‘Meet it!’ I knew what my duty was, and that there was not a moment to lose. The time for decided action had come, I must without delay obey the command, ‘Meet it!'” 1 SM 205,206.
We must meet the temptations that surround us. Only in this way do we stand a chance of victory.
“A storm is coming, relentless in its fury. Are we prepared to meet it?” 8T 315.
It is our choice to sink or swim. But if we meet it. we will, with Christ’s help, surely swim!
AMEN