Some years ago a sea captain told me of a little lad who served in his ship many years before, The captain is an earnest Christian now, but in the days when he knew this little fellow, he was not a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, only a stern and hardened man of the world. His first ship was a small vessel with about a dozen men who composed the crew. Among them was this lad Tommy who did odd jobs and made himself generally useful. Poor Tommy had a bitter life among this reckless, godless set of men. His mother had taught him to love the Lord Jesus, and a few weeks before he joined his ship, he had put his trust in the Saviour, promising that he would serve Him faithfully.
Of course when the men discovered this, Tommy became a butt for all their jokes and ill treatment, and even the captain himself encouraged their sport. But still he held on, persisting in kneeling down night and morning, to pour out his heart to his Father in heaven. In spite of the cruel blows which were often directed at him, he pleaded with God for the souls of the godless crew. With a heart sorely tried and well-nigh breaking at times, the boy wandered about the vessel seeking a quiet spot, but seldom finding one.
In the course of one voyage the little vessel encountered a succession of terrific storms which day by day increased in violence. The captain and crew were too occupied now to notice the boy, so amid the furiously raging elements his happiest and most peaceful moments were spent.
One awful night, when the sky overhead was dark with clouds, and the sea dashed mercilessly over the decks of the ship, Tommy stole aft, and clinging with both hands to a rope, kneeled on the wet boards and pleaded for the men who, regardless of him altogether now, were hurrying hither and thither carrying out the captain’s orders.
“It’s all up with us, Bill,” he heard the captain say to the chief mate in a hoarse whisper. “It’s no use trying to save her.” Then the thundering noise of the waves drowned their voices. Still Tommy went on praying.
Presently he heard, above the rain and wind, the sound of his own name, shouted in different parts of the vessel. Springing to his feet, he made his way, clinging to every available rope, to the captain’s side. “Do you want me, sir?” he asked.
“Look here, boy,” said the captain, “we’re going to the bottom; it’s impossible to do anything now—but” and stern and weather-worn as he was his voice trembled. “There’s a God in heaven, you say—well—I—I thought perhaps you would pray for us.”
Tommy gave one bright, glad look into the captain’s face. “Oh yes, sir,” he answered, without a moment’s hesitation. “I shall like to do that very much.”
The rough sailor turned on his heel and led the way into his cabin, Tommy and one or two of the crew following him. There they knelt down, and the little lad prayed that the storm might abate, and with choking sobs, asked God to save the captain and men.
Very shortly afterward the fury of the waves and winds lessened, the clouds broke, and the clear winter’s moon shone down upon them. The storm was over.
Such was the result of one boy’s faith. Oh! what a mighty power for good that lad became among the crew. Is not this a God worth having, who has said, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee?” Is Tommy’s God your God? Is Jesus your Friend and Saviour?
“LIKE AS A FATHER PITIETH HIS CHILDREN, SO THE LORD PITIETH THEM THAT FEAR HIM.” Ps. 103:13.
ML 01/29/1961