Faith in God involves trusting His sovereignty and promises even in difficult times, allowing believers to find peace and joy amid trials. It is often depicted through images of steadfastness, hope, and the triumph of trust over fear, grounded in scriptures like Hebrews 11:1 and Proverbs 3:5-6.
Expecting evil that may never come causes more harm than the evil itself.
Don't be like the woman who one day felt unusually well. "How are you, lady?" someone asked. "Today I am quite well, but tomorrow I am sure I am going to suffer again," she sighed. It is a terrible thing to expect evil that may never come your way. The expectation of evil kills many more than the evil itself.
Reaching for God and purity requires effort and sacrifice but is ultimately worthwhile.
REACH!-meaning "to stretch." It implies an inconvenience. It involves movement. You can't lean back, relax, get comfortable-and then reach, without giving up some of the comfort (at least for a moment). Reaching involves a little extra effort to get to something you want. How much extra energy you are willing to spend depends on how badly you want what you're reaching for. The more it means to you, the farther you are willing to stretch (even if it hurts). It's not convenient to "reach" up to God to find the hand He lovingly extends to us; or to reach out to other people who so desperately need to know someone cares. It's not even easy to reach within ourselves to find our true feelings and values. But there is no more important way for us to spend our energy than to reach for a life that is pure, clean, and faithful to God. It may seem like a lot of trouble-but it's worth it!
God's truth counters our negative thoughts with hope, love, and strength.
Our Thinking: "It's impossible." "I am too tired." "Nobody really loves me." "Nobody really cares for me." "I cannot go on." "I cannot figure things out." "I cannot do it." "I am not worth it." "I cannot forgive myself." "I cannot afford to." His Thinking: "All things are possible" Luke 18:27. "I will give you rest" Matthew 11:20-30. "I love you" John 3:16. "I care for you" 1 Peter 5:7. "My grace is sufficient" 2 Corinthians 12:9. "I will direct your steps" Proverbs 20:24; Proverbs 3:6. "You can do all things" Philippians 4:13. "I am able" 2 Corinthians 9:8. "It will be worth it" Romans 8:28. "I forgive you" Psalms 103:12; 1 John 1:9. "I will supply all your needs" Philippians 4:19.
Trust God to care for your needs when you faithfully serve His work.
Queen Elizabeth once sent an ambassador far away on important and difficult business. He objected, saying to the queen, "But what will become of my business and my family?" The queen replied, "You take care of my business and I will take care of yours." He went. In this he showed more faith than Christians who are unwilling to trust God's care for business and family. How many vacancies on the mission field exist because of such a lack of faith or unwillingness to serve the Lord.
Intellectual doubts do not negate the truthfulness of God's word and Christ's trustworthiness.
There is another voice coming down from the gallery yonder: "I have intellectual difficulties; I cannot believe." A man came to me sometime ago and said, "I cannot." "Cannot what?" I asked. "Well," said he, "I cannot believe." "Who?" "Well," he repeated, "I cannot believe." "Who?" I asked. "Well--I--can't--believe--myself." "Well, you don't want to." [Laughter.] Make yourself out false every time, but believe in the truth of Christ. If a man says to me, "Mr. Moody, you have lied to me; you have dealt falsely with me," it may be so, but no man on the face of the earth can say that God ever dealt unfairly, or that He lied to him. If God says a thing it is true. We don't ask you to believe in any man on the face of the earth, but we ask you to believe in Jesus Christ, who never lied--who never deceived any one. If a man says he cannot believe Him, he says what is untrue.
Faith pursues God's promises even when visible evidence is gone, like a dog hunting by scent.
"A good dog hunts by sight as long as he can see his game, but when that is lost he hunts by scent." So in prayer we are to pursue the blessing while we are encouraged to seek it, but we are not to cease when the likelihood of success is gone. We must hunt by a spiritual scent when sight quite fails us. The odour of the promise must direct our way when the mercy is numbered with the "things not seen as yet." It would be a sad degeneration if faith became nothing better than a conclusion drawn from preponderating probabilities: we must hope against hope, and believe in the truth of the promise against all likelihood of its performance, or we know nothing of the crown and glory of faith. O for a quick nostril, that we may follow after those heavenly things which the eye seeth not and the ear heareth not. These will repay the chase; whereas the things seen of the eye turn out, when overtaken, to be mere gaudy butterflies which are spoiled in the act of grasping them.
Faith and trust in Christ bring comfort and courage, overcoming fear and anxiety.
"FEED MY LAMBS:" A SABBATH-SCHOOL SERMON. HOW TO OBTAIN FAITH. HOW TO RAISE THE DEAD. INFANT SALVATION. IS CONVERSION NECESSARY? IS IT NOTHING TO YOU? JESUS AND THE LAMBS. LANDLORD AND TENANT. LET US PRAY. LITTLE DOGS, LOVING CARE FOR ANXIOUS SOULS. BUT JESUS. NUMBER 1,500; OR, LIFTING UP THE BRAZEN SERPENT. ONLY TRUST HIM! RECEIVING THE KINGDOM OF GOD AS A LITTLE CHILD.
A sick boy trusts God to care for him, showing simple, trusting childlike faith.
Some time ago, a boy was discovered in the street, evidently intelligent, but sick. A man who had the feeling of kindness strongly developed went to ask him what he was doing there. "Waiting for God to come to me." — "What do you mean?" said the gentleman, touched by the pathetic tone of the answer of the boy, in whose eyes and flushed face he saw the evidence of fever. "God sent for mother and father and little brother," said he, "and took them away to his home up in the sky; and mother told me, when she was sick, that God would take care of me. I have no home, nobody to give me any thing; and so I came here, and have been looking so long up in the sky for God to come and take care of me, as mother said he would. He will come, won't he? Mother never told a lie." — "Yes, my lad," said the man, overcome with emotion. "He has sent me to take care of you." You should have seen his eyes flash, and the smile of triumph break over his face, as he said, "Mother never told me a lie, sir; but you have been so long on the way!"
Faith in God brings calm and hope amid life's storms, unlike fear without trust.
A child lies in his little bed in some high chamber of an old castle, and hears the tempest growling in the chimney, and the prowling thief-winds at the window, and the scream of the spirits of the air. The storm rocks the walls, and beats upon the roof; and he shudders, and covers his head, and expects at every burst of thunder that the castle will go crashing to the ground. But, down in the room below, his father sits unmoved, reading by the fire: only now and then, when the tempest swells, he raises his spectacles for a moment, and exclaims, "God help the poor wretches on the sea, to-night!" or "I hope no belated traveller is out in such a storm as this;" and then turns to his book again. In the morning, the child hardly dares to look forth, lest the heavens and the earth have passed away; but the father only walks into his garden to see if some old tree has been blown down, or some unpropped vine fallen from the trellis. In times of peril and disaster, the Christian, through his faith and hope in God, is like the father by the fire; while he who has no such trust is tormented with fear and apprehension like the child in the chamber. Beecher.
Small acts of faith can rescue us from despair and danger.
A tall chimney had been completed; and the scaffolding was being removed. One man remained on the top to superintend the process. A rope should have been left for him to descend by. His wife was at home washing, when her little boy burst in with, "Mother, mother, they've forgotten the rope, and he's going to throw himself down!" She paused; her lips moved in the agony of prayer; and she rushed forth. A crowd were looking up to the poor man, who was moving round and round the narrow cornice, terrified and bewildered. He seemed as if at any moment he might fall, or throw himself down in despair. His wife from below cried out, "Wait, John!" The man became calm. "Take off thy stocking; unravel the worsted." And he did so. "Now tie the end to a bit of mortar, and lower gently." Down came the thread and the bit of mortar, swinging backwards and forwards. Lower and lower it descended, eagerly watched by many eyes: it was now within reach, and was gently seized by one of the crowd. They fastened some twine to the thread. "Now pull up." The man got hold of the twine. The rope was now fastened on. "Pull away again." He at length seized the rope, and made it secure. There were a few moments of suspense, and then, amidst the shouts of the people, he threw himself into the arms of his wife, sobbing, "Thou'st saved me, Mary!" The worsted thread was not despised: it drew after it the twine, the rope, the rescue! Ah! my friend, thou mayest be sunk very low down in sin and woe; but there is a thread of divine love, that comes from the throne of heaven, and touches even thee. Seize that thread. It may be small; but it is golden. Improve what you have, however little, and more shall be given. That thin thread of love, if you will not neglect it, shall lift even you up to God and glory. "Who hath despised the day of small things?"
Doubting God's power and faithfulness dishonors Him and is unreasonable.
Doubt the Eternal! distrust the Omnipotent! O traitorous fear! Thinkest thou that the arm which piled the heavens, and sustains the pillars of the earth, shall ever be palsied? Shall the brow which eternal ages have rolled over without scathing it, at last be furrowed by old age? What! shall the Eternal fail thee? God is too wise to err, too good to be unkind. Leave off doubting him, and begin to trust him; for, in so doing, thou wilt put a crown on his head: but, in doubting him, thou dost trample his crown beneath thy feet. Spurgeon.
Leaders should not publicly express doubt as it may set a bad example for others.
I once told my congregation that I had passed through a season of doubt and fear. One of my elders said to me, "Sir, I am sorry you told the people that. Just suppose you had been swearing or stealing, you would not have told them of it?"—"No," I answered: "that would be a terrible thing."—"Well," replied he, "I don't think it is much worse than disbelieving God; and, if you go and tell the people that, you set them a bad example." And he was right. It is not for the leader in any cause to doubt the success of the enterprise. Spurgeon.
A simple believer's faith in God's greatness and nearness impressed an atheist.
A learned atheist once met a plain countryman going to church. He asked him, "Where are you going?"—"I am going to church, sir," was the reply. "What to do there?"—"To worship God."—"Pray, whether is your God a great or a little God?"—"He is both, sir."—"How can he be both?"—"He is so great, sir, that the heaven of heavens cannot contain him, and so little, that he can dwell in my poor heart." The atheist declared that this simple answer of the countryman had much effect upon his mind.
A child's faith in God's provision encouraged his mother during severe poverty.
Johnny Hall was a poor boy. "Please give me something to eat, I am very hungry," he said one evening to his mother. She let her work fall, and drew Johnny towards her. Her tears fell fast as she said, "Mamma is very poor, and cannot give you any supper to-night." He said, "Never mind, mamma: I shall soon be asleep; and then I sha'n't feel hungry. But you will sit and sew, and be so hungry and cold! Poor mamma!" he said, and kissed her many times to comfort her. "Now, Johnny, you may say your prayers." He repeated, "Our Father," with her, until they came to the petition, "Give us this day our daily bread." The earnestness, almost agony, with which the mother uttered these words impressed Johnny strongly. He said them over again: "Give us this day our daily bread." Then, opening his blue eyes, he fixed them on his mother, and said, "We shall never be hungry any more. God is our Father; and he will hear us." The prayer was finished, and Johnny laid to rest. The mother sewed with renewed energy. Her heart was sustained by the simple faith of her child. Many were the gracious promises which came to her remembrance. Although tired and hungry, still it was with a light heart she sank to rest. Early in the morning, a gentleman called, on his way to business. He wished Johnny's mother to come to his home to take charge of his two motherless boys; and she immediately accepted the offer.
Steadfast gaze in danger can lead to deliverance, showing faith's power over fear.
During the Sepoy Rebellion in India, a party of British soldiers were being towed up the Indus, on flats, by a steamer. From time to time, they stopped, landed, cooked a meal, and rested for a short time. On one of these occasions, two of the men were walking along a narrow path, with high, thick, jungly grass on each side. As they proceeded, it came into the mind of one of them, that where they were was a suitable resort for tigers. Scarcely had the thought crossed him, when there emerged from the grass, and faced them, an immense tiger. The man cried, and ran. The other, by a sort of stupid fascination, stared at the animal. This stare was probably their deliverance. Making off from them, the magnificent fellow leaped over a party of soldiers at cards, snapped up a dog, and left the neighborhood. Lib. Treasury.
Trusting God's promise enables one to let go of fear and be saved from danger.
A residence was discovered to be on fire. All the inmates but one boy escaped from it. He was in a chamber; and the flames cut off egress by the stairway. He ran to the window, and cried, "O father! how shall I get out?" He could be seen by the fire in the room; but the thick black smoke kept him from seeing the people below. He heard their voices; and he cried, "Oh, save me!"—"Here I am, my son!" said the father; and he held out his arms for Charles to jump into them. "Here I am! don't fear. Drop down; and I will be sure to catch you." Charles crept out of the window, but hung fast by it. He knew it was very high from the ground; and he was afraid to let go. "Drop down, my boy!" cried the father. "Oh! I can't see you, dear father." "But I am here. You can trust me: I will save you."—"I am afraid, father, I shall fall."—"Let go, and don't fear!" cried the people. "Your father will be sure to catch you." And now Charles felt the flames. He was certain, that, if he hung there, he should be burnt. He knew that his father was strong, that he loved him, and that he was waiting to save him: then he let go his hold, and in a moment he was in his father's arms.
A child's life exemplifies perfect faith in its parents' provision and care.
Have you ever thought of the life of a child? Why, the life of a child is a perfect life of faith. That little child—what can that little child do? Why, that little child could not find its way to the street-end, and back again. It would be lost if you trusted it alone. That little child could not find the next meal. If you left that little child, it would die of want. That little child could not furnish a shelter for its own head to-night. And yet has that little child any fear about it? has that little child any sort of alarm about it? Not at all! How comes it that the child's life is the happy life it is? Because, instinctively and beautifully, it is a life of faith. That child could not buy the next loaf; but it has a firm belief that "father" can. That child could not provide for itself the garments for to-morrow; but it has an unbounded belief in "father's" power to do it and "mother's" power to do it. That child could not do it for itself one day; but it never costs that child a moment's concern. Its life is a life of perfect faith in its parents. S. Coley.
George Muller's faith and prayer sustained his orphan ministry without solicitation.
A correspondent of "The Boston Journal," who has recently visited George Muller, the founder of the orphan establishment at Bristol, Eng., consisting of five large stone houses, containing twelve hundred children, who has received and expended two million seventy-five hundred dollars, sent to him without solicitation, in answer to prayer, says that he is a poor man, who lives in the simplest style, not allowing himself a lounge or rocking-chair. He has great executive ability, and is the sole manager of his immense concern. The correspondent talked with merchants, tradesmen, draymen, and people of all classes in Bristol, religious and irreligious; and all expressed the highest confidence in his piety, honor, and integrity.
Faith trusts God's saving power even amid life-threatening storms.
The captain of a ship which was overtaken by a storm at sea announced that death to all was certain. A praying sailor-boy on board answered, "God will save us yet." The ship was on her beam-ends, and seemed ready to go down at once. At that moment, a great wave struck and righted the ship; and, a few days after, she rode safely into New-York Harbor.
Faith rests quietly and confidently in God, gaining strength and victory through Him.
A lion in conflict with the powers of hell, faith lies down like a lamb at the feet of the Lord of heaven. It returns and rests "in quietness and in confidence." Indeed, in this way it obtains salvation and strength. The calm resting upon God makes it victorious over all beside. In truth, it is he who fights for the believer, with the believer, in the believer. Faith does nothing alone, nothing of itself, but every thing under God, by God, through God. J. Stoughton.
Faith trusts God to provide even in unexpected ways, like the Indian woman's Thanksgiving provision.
Dr. Beecher, in his autobiography, tells of a poor pious Indian woman whom he once knew on Long Island. He says that one fall, just before Thanksgiving, while standing on a hill near the beach, he saw a large flock of brant (a species of wild goose) flying over; and she said, "Oh that the Lord would give me one of those brant to keep Thanksgiving with!" Immediately a suck-hawk darted from a tree near by, and, flying into the flock, struck one of them dead. It fell not far distant; and Betty went and micked it up, fully believing that the Lord had sent it to her for her Thanksgiving dinner. At another time, when she received a present of a basket of meat from an acquaintance, she said, "Thank the Lord for giving me this me out; and thank you too, Col. Gardiner."
— Dr. Wise
Faith's power lies not in tools but in the heart and arm that wield them.
In ancient history, there is a story of a valiant captain whose banner was almost always first in the fight; whose sword was dreaded by his enemies, for it was the herald of slaughter and victory. His king once asked to see the sword. He took it, quietly examined it, and sent it back with this message: "I see nothing wonderful in the sword. I cannot see why any man should be afraid of it." The captain sent the reply: "Your Majesty has been pleased to examine the sword; but I did not send the arm that wielded it. If you had examined that, and the heart that guided the arm, you would have understood the mystery."
Walking by faith means trusting unseen safety despite uncertain circumstances.
Andrew Fuller was to preach before a ministerial association. On his way there, the roads in several places were flooded from recent rains. Mr. Fuller came to one place where the water was very deep, and, being a stranger to its exact depth, was unwilling to go on. A countryman acquainted with the water cried out, "Go on, sir! you are quite safe!" Fuller urged on his horse; but the water soon touched his saddle, and he stopped to think. "Go on, sir! all is right!" shouted the man. Taking the man at his word, Fuller proceeded; and the text was suggested, "We walk by faith, not by sight."
Confidence in God removes fear even in the face of extraordinary circumstances.
Two boys were conversing about Elijah's ascent in the chariot of fire. Said one, "Wouldn't you be afraid to ride in such a chariot?"—"No," was the reply; "not if God drove."
Great men are shaped by faith to meet great occasions and fulfill their calling.
The great and successful men of history are commonly made by the great occasions they fill. They are the men who had faith to meet such occasions; and therefore the occasions marked them, called them to come and be what the successes of their faith would make them. The boy is but a shepherd; but he hears from his panic-stricken countrymen of the giant champion of their enemies. A fire seizes him, and he goes down, with nothing but his sling and his heart of faith, to lay that champion in the dust. Next he is a great military leader; next the king of his country. As with David, so with Nehemiah; as with him, so with Paul; as with him, so with Luther. A Socrates, a Tully, a Cromwell, a Washington, — all the great master-spirits, the founders and lawgivers of empires, and defenders of the rights of man, — are made by the same law. These did not shrink despairingly within the compass of their poor abilities; but in their heart of faith they embraced each one his cause, and went forth, under the inspiring force of their call, to apprehend that for which they were apprehended.
— Dr. Bushnell
Belief in a remedy can bring healing through the power of imagination.
The garrison of Brida, in 1629, was so affected with scurvy, that the city was about to be given up. The Prince of Orange sent them a remedy, with the assurance that it would give certain relief. Three or four drops were put in a gallon of water. Its effect was astonishing: cheerfulness again appeared; and those regarded as incurables were cured in a few days by the prince's remedy, which was their own imagination.
A long life of faith leads to peaceful readiness for death and hope in resurrection.
A distinguished Oneida chief, named Skenandoah, having yielded to the instructions of the Rev. Mr. Kirkland, and lived a reformed man for fifty years, said, just before he died, in his hundred and twentieth year. "I am an aged hemlock; the winds of one hundred years have whistled through my branches; I am dead at the top; (he was blind;) why I yet live, the great good Spirit only knows. Pray to my Jesus, that I may wait with patience my appointed time to die; and when I die, lay me by the side of my minister and father, that I may go up with him at the great resurrection."
Believing God can make us happy despite loss brings peace and joy in trials.
"Christians might avoid much trouble and inconvenience," says Dr. Payson, "if they would only believe what they profess—that God is able to make them happy without any thing else. They imagine, if such a dear friend were to die, or such and such blessings to be removed, they should be miserable; whereas God can make them a thousand times happier without them. To mention my own case,—God has been depriving me of one blessing after another; but as every one was removed, he has come in, and filled up its place; and now, when I am a cripple, and not able to move, I am happier than ever I was in my life before, or ever expected to be; and if I had believed this twenty years ago, I might have been spared much anxiety."
A Christian captain chose spiritual weapons over violence when confronted by pirates.
Capt. S—, of W—, Massachusetts, relates, that on a voyage to Brazil, in the spring of 1833, while sailing near Cape St. Roque, he deserved, one morning, in the distance, a suspicious looking vessel, under a press of canvas, standing toward him. From several circumstances, he was led to imagine that she was occupied by pirates, who were advancing to plunder and murder. Still, not being certain of the fact, he concluded to keep the vessel on her course. The suspicious schooner continued to gain upon him, and soon, by the help of the glass, he saw her deck covered with men, and a long eighteen pounder on a swivel, so prepared as to turn in any direction desired. She was evidently a faster sailer than his own vessel; he concluded, therefore, that if he turned out of his course, he would at length be overtaken, and from the pirates, excited and exasperated by a long chase, little mercy could be expected. The captain was a professed Christian, a strong believer in the providence of God, and emphatically a man of peace. Instead of fighting with carnal weapons, he determined to fight him with spiritual ones. Having religious tracts on board, he determined, as soon as the schooner came along side, to go on board, and present his tracts to the captain and crew, and preach to them in a bold, but affectionate manner, appropriate truths from the Gospel of Christ. He ordered all the hands to go down below, but the man at the helm. This he did partly to keep them from being agitated and from agitating his own mind, and partly to do away with all appearance of opposition against the approaching foe. Then, committing his men and himself to God, he patiently awaited the pirate's arrival. The schooner came nearer and nearer, till at length even the figures of the men could be distinctly seen by the naked eye. A fearful crisis was fast coming. But still the captain never shrunk nor veered from his course for a moment. Suddenly the pirates altered their course, hauled the vessel upon the wind, and stood away as rapidly as sail and surge could carry them! From the fact that they saw no men on board but Capt. S. and the helmsman, and no manifestations of fear, the pirates might have been led to suspect that there was a large armed force below, or some other decoy prepared; and thus concluded it dangerous to attempt their hostile design. Whatever process of thought it was, however, which led them to retreat, who will fail to recognize in that process an overruling Providence, protecting in this instance, as in many others, the man who resists not evil, but in the hour of threatened violence depends not on his own arm, but on God's?
Trusting God's providence brings peace and courage amid threats and uncertainty.
Soon after the surrender of Copenhagen to the English, in the year 1807, detachments of soldiers were, for a time, stationed in the surrounding villages. It happened one day that three soldiers, belonging to a Highland regiment, were sent to forage among the neighboring farm-houses. They went to several, but found them stripped and deserted. At length they came to a large garden, or orchard, full of apple trees, bending under the weight of fruit. They entered by a gate, and followed a path which brought them to a neat farm-house. Every thing without bespoke quietness and security; but as they entered by the front door, the mistress of the house and her children ran screaming out by the back. The interior of the house presented an appearance of order and comfort superior to what might be expected from people in that station, and from the habits of the country. A watch hung by the side of the fireplace, and a neat book-case, well filled, attracted the attention of the elder soldier. He took down a book: it was written in a language unknown to him, but the name of Jesus Christ was legible on every page. At this moment, the master of the house entered by the door through which his wife and children had just fled.
One of the soldiers, by threatening signs, demanded provisions: the man stood firm and undaunted, but shook his head. The soldier who held the book approached him, and pointing to the name of Jesus Christ, laid his hand upon his heart, and looked up to heaven Instantly the farmer grasped his hand, shook it vehemently, and then ran out of the room. He soon returned with his wife and children laden with milk, eggs, bacon, etc., which were freely tendered; and when money was offered in return, it was at first refused. But as two of the soldiers were pious men, they, much to the chagrin of their companion, insisted upon paying for all they received. When taking leave, the pious soldiers intimated to the farmer that it would be well for him to secrete his watch: but, by the most significant signs, he gave them to understand that he feared no evil, for his trust was in God; and that though his neighbors, on the right hand and on the left, had fled from their habitations, and by foraging parties had lost what they could not remove, not a hair of his head had been injured, nor had he even lost an apple from his trees.
"The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them."
Faithful waiting on God's guidance leads to provision and fulfillment of His plans.
In youth, Stilling was extremely poor, destitute of the common comforts and necessaries of life. After a long season of anxiety and prayer, he felt satisfied that it was the will of God that he should go to a university, and prepare himself for the medical profession. He did not at first make choice of a university, but waited for an intimation from his heavenly Father; for as he intended to study simply from faith, he would not allow his own will in any thing. Three weeks after he had come to this determination, a friend asked him whither he intended to go. He replied he did not know. "O," said she, "our neighbor, Mr. T., is going to Strasburg, to spend the winter there, go with him."
This touched Stilling's heart; he felt that this was the intimation he had waited for. Meanwhile, Mr. T. entered the room, and was heartily pleased with the proposition. The whole of his welfare now depended on his becoming a physician; and for this, a thousand dollars at least were requisite, of which he could not tell in the whole world where to raise a hundred. He nevertheless fixed his confidence firmly on God, and reasoned as follows:
"God begins nothing without terminating it gloriously. Now, it is most certainly true, that he alone has ordered my present circumstances, entirely without my co-operation. Consequently, it is also most certainly true, that he will accomplish every thing regarding me in a manner worthy of himself."
He smilingly said to his friends, who were as poor as himself—"I wonder from what quarter my heavenly Father will provide me with money?" When they expressed anxiety, he said—"Believe assuredly that he who was able to feed a thousand people with a little bread lives still, and to him I commend myself. He will certainly find out means. Do not be anxious, the Lord will provide."
Forty-six dollars was all that he could raise for his journey. He met unavoidable delay on the way; and while at Frankfort, three days' ride from Strasburg, he had but a single dollar left. He said nothing of it to any one, but waited for the assistance of his heavenly Father. As he was walking the streets and praying inwardly to God, he met Mr. L., a merchant from the place of his residence, who says to him, "Stilling, what brought you here?"
"I am going to Strasburg, to study medicine."
"Where do you get your money to study with?"
"I have a rich Father in heaven."
Mr. L. looked steadily at him, and inquired—"How much money have you on hand?"
"One dollar," said Stilling.
"So," said Mr. L. "Well, I'm one of your Father's stewards," and handed him thirty-three dollars.
Stilling felt warm tears in his eyes; says he—"I am now rich enough, I want no more."
This first trial made him so courageous, that he no longer doubted that God would help him through every thing.
He had been but a short time in Strasburg, when his thirty-three dollars had again been reduced to one, on which account he began again to pray very earnestly. Just at this time, one morning, his room-mate, Mr. T., says to him, "Stilling, I believe you did not bring much money with you," and offered him thirty dollars in gold, which he gladly accepted, as an answer to his prayers.
In a few months after this, the time arrived when he must pay the lecturer's fee, or have his name struck from the list of students. The money was to be paid by six o'clock on Thursday evening. Thursday morning came, and he had no money, and no means of getting any. The day was spent in prayer. Five o'clock in the evening came, and yet there was no money. His faith began almost to fail; he broke out into a perspiration; his face was wet with tears. Some one knocked at the door. "Come in," said he. It was Mr. R., the gentleman of whom he had rented the room.
"I called," said Mr. R., "to see how you like your room?"
"Thank you," said Stilling, "I like it very much."
Says Mr. R.—"I thought I would ask you one other question; have you brought any money with you?"
Stilling says he now felt like Habakkuk when the angel took him by the hair of the head to carry him to Babylon. He answered "No; I have no money."
Mr. R. looked at him with surprise, and at length said, "I see how it is; God has sent me to help you."
He immediately left the room, and soon returned with forty dollars in gold.
Stilling says he then felt like Daniel in the lion's den, when Habakkuk brought him his food. He threw himself on the floor, and thanked God with tears. He then went to the college, and paid his fee as well as the best.
A skeptic recognizes God's providence after being miraculously rescued from shipwreck.
A careless sailor, on going to sea, replied to his religious brother in words like these: "Tom, you talk a great deal about religion and Providence; and if I should be wrecked, and a ship was to heave in sight and take me off, I suppose you would call it a merciful Providence. It's all very well, but I believe no such thing; these things happen like other things, by mere chance, and you call it Providence, that's all." He went upon his voyage, and the case he put hypothetically was soon literally true; he was wrecked, and remained upon the wreck three days, when a ship appeared, and, seeing their signal of distress, came to their relief. He returned, and, in relating it said to his brother, "Oh! Tom, when that ship hove in sight, my words to you came in a moment into my mind; it was like a bolt of thunder. I have never got rid of it, and now I think it no more than an act of common gratitude to give myself up to Him who pitied and saved me."
Esquimaux chose to honor Sabbath over hunting, trusting God for provision.
In December, says Mr. Barsoe, the Missionary, a pleasing circumstance occurred; it showed the reverence of our Esquimaux for the Lord's day. Owing to the state of the weather during the preceding month, but few seals had been taken; and Saturday, the second of December, was the first day on which the state of the ice permitted our people to go out on the seal-hunt. Considering the great uncertainty which ever attends this occupation, the inducement to pursue it on the following day, in the hope of securing a better provision for their families, was any thing but slight. We were, therefore, not a little pleased to learn that a meeting of fathers of families had been convened on the Saturday evening, and that it had been resolved that they would none of them go out on the ensuing day of the Lord, but would spend it in a manner becoming the disciples of Christ, who were invited thankfully to commemorate his coming into the world to save sinners. They expressed their belief that their Heavenly Father was able to grant them, on Monday, a sufficiency for the supply of their wants. The meeting they closed with the singing of some verses, during which they felt the presence and peace of their Lord and Savior. Their confidence in God was not put to shame. On Monday the weather proved so favorable that they captured no fewer than one hundred seals; but in the course of the following night the first became so intense as to close all the bays and inlets, and to preclude any further attempts to take seals.
A boy taught in Sunday school faced death with faith and prayer despite painful hydrophobia.
A little boy, about eleven years of age, a Sunday scholar in Camberwell, was bitten by a mad dog; the part was cut out, and caustic applied, but the fatal poison could not be arrested in its progress, and nine weeks after the accident, decided symptoms of hydrophobia were manifested. It appears that the poor boy had depended chiefly, if not entirely, on Sunday school teaching for all his religious instruction, and now the great advantage of correct information on scriptural subjects was evinced. He was aware of the nature f his disease, took patiently the medicines recommended to him, and bade farewell to a playmate, saying, he should never see him again. But frightful paroxysms of pain came on; sometimes he was lifted suddenly upright in the bed, while the agony of speaking was so great that he could only utter words at intervals, and then in reply to necessary questions. But in the midst of judgment God remembered mercy,—an interval of comparative composure, a fact almost unprecedented in this disease, was greeted the sufferer; and then was felt the sweet influence of that religion which he had been taught, and which gives divine wisdom to the meanest capacity. He knelt on the bed, and prayed—prayed to Jesus, and besought the salvation of his soul. He needed comfort; but he had not, as is too frequently the case, to seek it amid the pains and confusions of a dying hour, and, in the darkness of nature, mistake broken reeds for substantial supports; no, the way of peace and life had again and again been pointed out to him; he believed, and who can doubt that he was saved? He repeated and sung most of the hymns he had been taught; joy beamed on the countenance which had been so lately distorted with agony; he called on those around to attend to the things of religion, and prayed that their hearts might be turned from stone to flesh. How sweet, when sinking with apprehension, to find the means of support so near, with so firm a foundation secured to us! "Come to Jesus, come with me," said the little sufferer, as he quietly passed to glory.
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