I HAVE heard that a full wind behind a ship drives her not so fast forward, as a side wind that seems as much against her as for her. The reason is, that a full wind behind fills but some of her sails, which keep it from the rest, but a side wind fills them all.
Now our affections are our sails. If the Lord gives us a full wind and continued gale of mercies, it would fill some of our affections—joy, delight, and the like. But when He comes with a side wind—a dispensation that seems almost as much against us as for us—then He takes up all our affections, and we are carried faster to the haven where we would be.
ML-07/31/1960