Soon after my conversion and before that special series of meetings
closed, I heard the pastor relate the experience of a certain boy who
had sought and found the Lord. He said that after a period of earnest
seeking, all the darkness was instantly dispelled and the boy was
wonderfully saved. Judging from this vivid description, I decided
that the boy must have witnessed some sudden manifestation of light.
Immediately I began to doubt my experience. I was still more disturbed
when I saw older persons struggling night after night at the altar and
then finally experiencing some powerful emotions which seemed to be far
more wonderful than anything that I had experienced. Sometimes I wished
that I too might go to the altar again and pray and struggle until some
wonderful demonstration should be given to me; but I was naturally
backward and timid, and could scarcely make up my mind to go through
such an ordeal of struggling as I had witnessed in some of more mature
years.