The child lying at night in its little crib by its mother’s side
cries out because of the darkness its eyes can not penetrate,
and wants to get up. The mother says, “Lie still and wait till
daylight, child.” And the little one asks, “When will that be?”
The mother says, “It will be daylight after a while,” and taking
the tiny hand in hers the restless child calmly drops into
peaceful slumber, confident that at morning’s dawn light will
come. So with God’s grown-up children. Amid the impenetrable
gloom of limited knowledge we grow restless and uneasy because
we can not see Him face to face, but by faith, putting our hands
in His, we may confidently expect the dawning. (Text.)
(1021)
* * * * *
The Norwegian missionary Braadvedt once asked his native Zulu
teacher, “What is faith and what is unbelief?”
The Christian Zulu replied, “In Zululand strong men carry people
over the rivers when the water is high. Before these men go
through the river they tell those whom they carry to take a
firm hold. Those who have confidence in the carrier and obey
him safely reach the other side, but those who lose confidence
and let go their hold, perish in the water. That is faith and
unbelief. To have faith means to take hold of Christ and His
Word, to lack faith means to let go Christ and His Word.”
(1022)
* * * * *
A man stood upon a height, overlooking an estuary of the sea.
On the opposite shore was a bold headland. Wishing to cross
thither, he cast about to find a way, but the abyss of water
lay between. Then One who stood between him said: “The bridge
is safe; advance and fear not.” “But I see no bridge,” said the
traveler. “Take this glass and look,” said the One who stood at
his side. And the man took it and looked, and lo! a bridge was
spanning the great gulf of waters. Yet he saw but a small part
of that end that was nearest. He went forward courageously,
and, as he advanced, the bridge stretched out before him, tho
the farther end was still obscured. He marveled much at this
wonder, and inquired the reason. “This glass,” exclaimed the One
who had led him to look, “is Faith; it gives spiritual vision
and reveals that which is hid from the eye of flesh.” Advancing
more confidently, he saw the bridge now more clearly, as its
proportions were gradually disclosed. And he went on his way
across, singing and rejoicing, for he was glad at heart. (Text.)
(1023)
* * * * *
An English writer tells this incident and draws from it the lessons
that follow:
The other day I was passing through a London square, and
noticed a little girl feeding some pigeons. Quite a number were
fluttering around her, some getting more, some less, of what she
had to give them. But one, bolder than the rest, had settled on
her wrist, and was getting his supply direct from the basin she
was holding in her hand. Needless to say, that pigeon got the
most of all.
Instinctively I thought of the verse: “Let us come boldly unto
the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). But there was something else
besides boldness that the bird possest; altho only a pigeon,
it certainly showed faith in the good will of the little girl.
Whether she had been there on the same errand before I can not
say, as I very seldom pass that way; but it was evident that it
regarded her as a child to be trusted, and one who would not
do a feathered friend any harm. Thus, while its companions got
comparatively little, this one, by reason of its faith combined
with boldness, received all it could appropriate in the time.
It had no need to plead with the pathetic look of its eye; it
simply realized its need, and recognizing the means of supplying
it, gladly availed itself of it.
(1024)
* * * * *
Faith is the standing-ground of the hopeful, the conviction of
facts unseen. Sam Jones used to illustrate it in this way. Out
West they have a place for watering cattle where the animals
have to mount a platform to reach the troughs. As they step upon
the platform their weight presses a lever, and this throws the
water into the troughs. They have to get on the platform through
faith, and this act provides the water. The steer that slips
round to the barnyard and looks into the trough will find it
dry, for it needs his weight on the platform to force the water
up. If you slide back you will find life barren and dry, but
if you step upon the platform of full assurance in God’s Word,
blessings will flow abundantly.
(1025)
* * * * *
Herman S. Reichard is the author of this:
I dreamed a dream
Of white-robed Faith; with words of cheer and love
She took me by the hand and led me on;
And by some magic art smoothed out the way
Until my lagging zeal was fired anew
By future visions of unmeasured bliss.
I saw beyond the wintry cold and snow
The days of springtime, full of flowers and song
To greet and satisfy the longing heart.
(1026)
* * * * *
The following incident is related of Rev. John Wilkinson and his
Mildmay (London) Mission to the Jews:
On one occasion two American gentlemen sat at Mr. Wilkinson’s
breakfast-table and noted his opening of letters which brought
God’s supply for the day. “This is all very well, so far,” said
one of the gentlemen, “but what would you do, Mr. Wilkinson, if
one morning the expected supply did not come?” The answer is
clear in my memory, “That can only happen, sir, when God dies.”
(Text.)
(1027)
* * * * *
William J. Long, in “English Literature,” writes thus of Samuel Johnson:
Since the man’s work fails to account for his leadership and
influence, we examine his personality; and here everything is
interesting. Because of a few oft-quoted passages from Boswell’s
biography, Johnson appears to us as an eccentric bear, who
amuses us by his growlings and clumsy antics. But there is
another Johnson, a brave, patient, kindly, religious soul, who,
as Goldsmith said, had “nothing of the bear but his skin”; a man
who battled like a hero against poverty and pain and melancholy
and the awful fear of death, and who overcame them manfully.
“That trouble passed away; so will this,” sang the sorrowing
Deor in the first old Anglo-Saxon lyric; and that expresses
the great and suffering spirit of Johnson, who in the face of
enormous obstacles never lost faith in God or in himself.
(1028)
* * * * *
In the self-appointed task of educating the public to an
appreciation of the best in music, Mr. Theodore Thomas had a
long and up-hill struggle which would have broken a weaker man.
During those days he once said to an intimate friend, says the
New York _Herald_:
“I have gone without food longer than I should, I have walked
when I could not afford to ride, I have even played when my
hands were cold, but I shall succeed, for I shall never give
up my belief that at last the people will come to me, and my
concerts will be crowded. I have undying faith in the latent
musical appreciation of the American public.” (Text.)
(1029)
* * * * *
One day, at a little prayer-meeting, our deacon, Yi Chun
Ho, startled the Koreans, as well as the missionary, by the
suggestion that the natives should put up the new church without
foreign aid. I at once said: “You have raised twenty yen, and
believed that you had done all you could; it will take almost
one thousand yen to put up the church. Can you do it?” I felt
strongly rebuked by his quiet reply: “We ask such questions
as ‘Can you do it?’ about men’s work, but not about God’s
work.”--PIERSON, “The Miracles of Missions.”
(1030)
See ACHIEVEMENT; GUIDANCE, GOD’S; TRIUMPH IN DEATH.