Faith wins the battle of life against many odds.
Yes! this is indeed a romance of faith--faith overcoming the world.
This child or youth starts out with all things against him. He is
likely to grow up into an Ishmaelite if he grows up at all. He starts
with an ill-starred name--a name that spells misfortune. He starts
without his mother's blessing and without a glimmer of hope to cheer
him; no father to give him a helping hand by the way--without
endowment, fortune, family, or friends. What chance can there be in
the race for one so heavily handicapped? Failure is written on his
brow by the hand that nursed him. Failure is written on all his
circumstances. It will be a desperate struggle all through. There
will be none of the prizes of life for him. If he gets a bare living
wage, it is as much as he may expect.
That is what he has before him, apparently! Well, for one thing, he
puts on courage, and starts on his way singing _Nil desperandum_. And
then, knowing well that he has few or no human friends, he falls back
on the Father of the fatherless and the Helper of those who have no
other help. He relies on faith instead of fortune. He will make
prayer his main weapon, and the light of the Lord his guide, and duty
his pole star. He will pursue a straight course, avoiding evil, trying
to feel the hand of God upon him, and the watchful eyes of God over
him. And he will make a brave fight of it day by day, doing his best,
and leave a higher power to determine what shall follow. That is what
we read between the lines of this story. Nay, that is all expressed.
"_He called on the God of Israel_." He committed his life to the
ordering of the Almighty. And the Almighty promoted him. He became
more honourable than his brethren.
They are poor creatures who complain that the battle is lost before it
is even begun, who groan that the chances of life are all against them
before they have made one brave venture and endeavour; and they are
vain and self-deceiving men who fancy that the victory will be easy
because somebody has given them a good start, and they have the backing
of family, social position, wealth, and mental gifts. If some of you
think because your fathers stand high, because your education has been
well looked after, because there are unlimited money and plenty of
friends to push you on--if you think that because of these things you
can dispense with the fear of God, and the daily obligations of duty,
and make pleasure and self-indulgence your main ends, and do without
honest, persevering, self-denying toil, you will be miserably
disappointed. God has some hard things to say to you before you get
far on in years. It does not matter how promising one's beginnings, if
there is no steady, conscientious brave self-discipline, and endeavour.
Life is always a failure and a disgraceful thing with a downward
course, if there is no serious purpose in it and no great thoughts.
And if you are ever tempted to say, as many do, that there is no hope
for a life which commences heavily weighted; that all the chances go to
those who are clever, and richly endowed; that if a youth begins with
no money to back him and no friends to push him into promotion, he must
remain chained down to that low condition to the end--then I point you
to this little bit of biography. I could take you round a certain town
and point you to a hundred men who have repeated that bit of biography
in their own lives, and I tell you that even now the chances are
plentiful: waiting at the feet of those who tread life's way, a brave
heart within and God overhead, and that no one need despair, however
unpromising his start, who makes God his guide, and prayer his
inspiration, and duty his chosen companion, and shuns evil, and pursues
that which is good. Faith and loyalty to conscience and a courageous
temper are still the weapons which conquer in the fight. Jabez, the
child of sorrow and misfortune, became more honourable than all his
brethren.