Adverse Circumstances
Acainst Thy holy child Jesus, both Herod and Pontius Pilate were gathered together, for to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done.” — Acts iy. 27, 28.
HIS is a remarkable passage. It takes us
by surprise. It is a literary surprise. The sentence ends just in the opposite way to what we are prepared for. We expect it to read thus: “Against Thy holy child Jesus both Herod and Pilate were gathered together to circumvent the course of Thy Divine will.” Instead of that, we read, “Against Thy holy child Jesus both Herod and Pilate were gathered together to do whatever Thy counsel had determined to be done.” The idea is that their effort of opposition to the Divine will proved to be a stroke of alliance with it. The measures they took to wreck the ship became the very means of keeping the ship
afloat. They met together in a council of war against Christ; unconsciously to themselves they signed a treaty for the promotion of Christ’s glory. They thought they were making a will in favour of His enemies; they were really bequeathing all their wealth to the Man of Nazareth. They decreed that He should die; that decree was their contribution of palm-leaves. No one has done so much for the triumphal entry of Jesus into the world as did Herod and Pilate when they met together to shut the door. They opened the door in their effort to lock it. They made a laurel for Jesus in trying to make a cypress. In the darkness of night they constructed what seemed to be a cross; they came back in the morning, and, lo! it was a crown!
My brother, God never thwarts adverse circumstances; that is not His method. I have often been struck with these words — He rideth upon the wings of the wind.” They are most suggestive. Our God does not beat down the storms that rise against Him; He rides upon them; He works through them. You are often surprised that so many thorny paths are allowed to be open for the good — how that aspiring boy Joseph is put in a dungeon — how that beautiful child Moses is cast into the Nile. You would have expected Providence to have interrupted the opening of these pits destined for destruction. Well, He might have done so; He might have said to the storm, “Peace, be still!” But there was a@ more excellent way — to ride upon it. God said, “I will not shut the pit, but I will make it the road to the throne of Egypt; I will not dry the Nile, but I will make it the channel to a great sea; I will not prevent the cross, but I will make it the world’s crown.” You too should ride upon the wings of the wind. Say not, “I must take shelter till the storm passes.” Say not, “God will sweep it away that I may come nearer to Himself.” Nay, it is the storm that will bring you nearer. He maketh the clouds His chariot. Leap into His chariot! Commit yourself to the black horses! Go out to meet the storm! Recline upon the bosom of the cloud! Ride upon the wings of the wind! And they will bear you home. They will bring you to the Ararat of rest. Your days of toil will make your Sabbath; your desert will make your Canaan; your cross will make your crown. Herod and Pilate may divert you from your way; but they will send you by a nearer road to the Promised Land.