ANSWERED PRAYER.
I want to go home, to know it all--
The Saviour's love for the sinner's soul,
The mercy of God and the glory given
To saints when they're safely brought to heaven.
"Here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come." Ours is a
camp life. Moses, in his wonderful prayer, claims God as his guide and
protector amid all the changing scenes of life. "Lord, thou hast been
our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were
brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even
from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Thou turnest man to
destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. For a thousand
years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is passed, and as a
watch in the night."--Ps. xc. 1-4.
How essential then to constantly seek the guidance of God in all we
undertake for His glory.
He directs and controls all our affairs just as much to-day as He did
this ancient Israel by the great miraculous cloud by day, and pillar of
fire by night, stretching far high into the heavens.
* * * * * *
HOPEFUL CASES.
Concerning such, she writes: "Some encouraging circumstances present
themselves amidst the scenes of trial and suffering with which my daily
walks render me familiar, and I will note a few which have excited my
warmest sympathy. Among others, there is one family of a father,
mother, and three small children, whose whole subsistence depends upon
what the mother is able to make by washing. The man has been for two
months lying ill, with what the doctor calls typhoid fever; but which
seems now to have settled on his lungs, attended with a severe cough,
and no hope of recovery. I have been enabled to assist them from time
to time with a little nourishment. When I entered their house one day
with what I had provided for them, I found they had nothing but a
little bread. As I showed them what I had brought, they looked from one
to the other, and were so filled with gratitude, and overcome by the
unexpected supply, they appeared unable to speak. I find thus, not only
an open door to their home, but also a welcome to their hearts. They
have not been in the habit of attending church, and, as might be
supposed, the duty of personal and family religion was also neglected.
But it appears evident that these trials have not been sent in vain by
the Lord. The sick man loves to have me read the Scriptures, and pray
with him: and the children delight to see me, often running to meet me,
and take me by the hand before I reach the house."
Recognizing the necessity of prayer for the Divine blessing in all our
work, she writes in her journal thus:
"MARCH 2, 1875.--In commencing my work this morning I asked for
guidance in the direction of my visits, and I was led to go to a
house quite out of my district, to visit a colored family who were
very destitute.
"I found them at family prayer, asking the Lord to send them some
food; my heart was touched as I listened to the simplicity of the
petition, and I could not but feel the Lord had directed my steps to
the house in answer to their prayer, and was reminded of that
passage of Scripture, '_while they are yet speaking, I will
answer_.' I believed these words, and procured them both food and
fuel. As we then sat down to read God's word, the tears streamed
down the cheeks of these aged women, as I was helped to explain the
word to them, and when we knelt to pray, we were blest together.
Truly, while teaching others our own souls are often refreshed!
"MARCH 6th.--Poor Mrs. L. was visited to-day; she has been suffering
for years from rheumatism. As I went in I said, 'Mrs. L., is Jesus
precious to-day?' The tears came to her eyes as she said, 'I fear I
have grieved Him to-day; I felt like murmuring because my pain has
been so great.' I told her Jesus understood her, and knew she did
not mean to murmur. And then I read to her how He had a feeling for
our infirmities, being Himself tried and tempted; and so she was
comforted, and became quite cheerful. On leaving her I felt what a
blessed privilege it is to be able to comfort the sick poor. A poor
brother sent to my house to-day for something to nourish him, as he
felt quite weak. I prepared some broth and gave it to him, which he
ate with a relish, and that passage from the word came to my mind,
'Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these, ye have
done it unto me.'
"MARCH 8th.--Felt much wearied with visits and climbing stairs, and
was glad to return to a cheerful fireside, and settle for the
evening; but before I had removed my rubbers, a knock at the door
assured me some call had come for me, and so it proved. A child of
one of my families came to say her mother was ill, and wanted to see
me. This woman, a few months before, did not seem to care for
religion, and would not hear me read, saying she had no time for it;
she had to earn her living without listening to what did not concern
her. But when she came to lie upon a bed of suffering, she thought
of me first, and found the word of God was just what she wanted; and
as I read the words, 'Whosoever cometh unto me I will in no wise
cast out,' the tears ran down her cheeks, and she at once cast
herself upon Christ, taking him for her Saviour, and her face shone.
As I left her my soul rejoiced, though it was far in the night when
I returned home, that I had been permitted to point one soul to the
'Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.'
"'Oh! that all the world my Jesus knew,
Then all the world would love Him too.'
"One poor woman asked me if I would get her a Bible, and she would
pay twenty-five cents a month. I promised, and am rejoiced at
finding so many that seem eager for Bibles; quite a number have
asked for them, and I trust it may prove a lamp unto their feet and
a light unto their path.
"MARCH 11th.--After the fatigue of the day, I did not feel like
going out again in the evening, but our pastor, Rev. Geo. O. Phelps,
came in, and after tea he said, 'We have not many minutes to spare,
but we will have a few words of prayer before parting.' They were
few, but they cheered and comforted me so, I felt refreshed, and
forgetting all fatigue, I arose and went to the prayer-meeting,
feeling as my people do sometimes when they say to me after a visit,
'Oh! Mrs. Knowles, how your prayer has _rested_ me.'
"MARCH 23d.--A message came to-day, saying Mrs. L. was dying, and
wanted me to come at once. I went, and was helped in return to see
the triumph of spiritual over temporal things. The Lord was present
to bless us at the bedside of the dying one. Her trust and faith are
firm in Jesus, and her whole desire is to be with Him and see Him as
He is."
* * * * * *
Blessed hope, "to see Him as He is, and to be transformed into His
image." John declares:
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what
we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like
Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope
in him purifieth himself even as He is pure."
It was about this time that she penned in her diary the following
touching record of her toil. It reveals how sincere, diligent,
systematic, and unprejudiced she was in her work for Jesus, even
mentioning the names of the streets. She faithfully copied the example
and closely followed the directions of her master, given to Ananias at
the wonderful conversion of the great apostle of the Gentiles, when
giving directions how to find Saul of Tarsus:
"The Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called
Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of
Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth:
"And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting
his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.
"Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how
much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
"And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that
call on thy name.
"But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto
me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of
Israel:
"_For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's
sake._"--Acts ix. 11-16.
* * * * * *
She writes: "I called on a woman in Broome Street who was convicted of
her lost condition and ready to yield to despair. Her mind had been
impressed by a letter from her husband who had gone West some time
since on business.
"He had been converted during his absence, being awakened by witnessing
the wickedness and depravity of his fellow-men, the profanation of the
Sabbath, licentiousness in high and low places, and reflecting that if
there were a righteous God, the wicked could not go unpunished. It was
pleasant to be able to tell this distressed woman of the love of Jesus,
and to urge her to go with her husband in the narrow way. On my next
visit I found her more cheerful, and feeling that there is hope for
her. She wishes me to get her a Bible, which she will pay for by weekly
instalments.
"Met with a woman in Eldridge Street,[4] who was given to drinking. As
she was sober at that time, I conversed with her about her sin. She
burst into tears and said, 'I have long wanted some one to talk to me
about my soul.' As I read to her the story of redeeming love, she
seemed to drink it in with delight, and promised to attend the place of
prayer. She, too, wishes to possess a Bible, and to use the money she
has before spent for rum in payment. I am greatly encouraged to labor
and pray for her.
[4] This was the street in which our missionary died.
"Visiting some families in Madison Street, I conversed with one woman
who excited my especial interest. She had been very ill with a sore
throat. She was a Romanist, but the Spirit of God had opened to her
view the evil of her heart, and she now desired to hear from me of the
way of life. I told her of the forgiveness of sin through Christ's
blood. She said she had confessed to the priest, and had received
absolution, but found no relief from her load, which weighed upon her
like a mountain. I directed her to the Lamb of God, who alone can take
away sin. But after conversing with her some time (although her throat
was so much inflamed as almost to deprive her of the power of
utterance), she broke forth into one of the most affecting prayers I
ever heard. Her husband sat by and listened to all that was said, being
very anxious lest she should abjure the Catholic faith and die out of
the pale of the Church. He interrupted me frequently, saying, 'My good
lady, we don't want you to teach us, the priest instructs us in all we
need.' But I told him I had a message from God, and I could not be
prevented from delivering it. He left the room in anger, but I hope
this poor soul may find peace, by trusting in the 'sinner's Friend.'
"Who can tell but what even this poor man may be found at last among
the ransomed ones!"
This short extract from _The Home Mission Monthly_ for May, published by
the Woman's Executive Committee of Home Missions of the Presbyterian
Church, is peculiarly appropriate to the above experience of her who now
sleeps in Cypress Hills Cemetery,
"Under the shadows gray."
"At this spring-time season, when the seed is cast into the brown bosom
of the earth, the lesson taught by the great Teacher, eighteen hundred
years ago, in Palestine, 'as the sower went forth to sow,' is borne in
upon the mind once more, and these lines are the reflex of the impulses
which are astir in many hearts:
"I know my hand may never reap its sowing,
And yet some other may;
And I may never even see it growing--
So short my little day!
"Still must I sow, although I go forth weeping,
I cannot, dare not stay.
God grant a harvest! though I may be sleeping,
Under the shadows gray."