Faith in God's promises involves trusting His word and providence even in difficult or uncertain circumstances, believing that He will fulfill His commitments to His people (Hebrews 10:23). Illustrations often use everyday scenarios—such as answered prayers, business dealings, and personal care—to reveal how faith sustains hope and obedience amidst doubt and challenge (2 Corinthians 1:20).
What we expect determines what we perceive and experience in life.
It is said that two kinds of birds fly over the California deserts: the hummingbird and the vulture.
All the vulture can see is rotting meat because that is all he looks for. He thrives on that diet. But the hummingbird ignores the carcasses and the smelly flesh of dead animals. Instead, he looks for the tiny blossoms of the cactus flowers. He buzzes around until he finds the colorful blooms almost hidden from view by the rocks. Each bird finds what it is looking for.
What are you looking for? Better still-what are you finding? What you are finding tells what you are really looking for. Your expectations of life will determine your outcome.
Faith to cast burdens on Christ is a choice, not a limitation of Christ's power.
I remember a mother coming to me and saying, "It is easy enough for you to speak in that way; if you had the burden that I've got, you couldn't cast it on the Lord." "Why, is your burden so great that Christ can't carry it?" I asked. "No; it isn't too great for Him to carry; but I can't put it on Him." "That is your fault," I replied; and I find a great many people with burdens who, rather than just come to Him with them, strap them tighter on their backs and go away struggling under their load. I asked her the nature of her trouble, and she told me. "I have an only boy who is a wanderer on the face of the earth. I don't know where he is. If I only knew where he was I would go around the world to find him. You don't know how I love that boy. This sorrow is killing me." "Why can't you take him to Christ? You can reach Him at the throne, even though he be at the uttermost part of the world. Go tell God all about your trouble, and he will take away his sin, and not only that, but if you never see him on earth, God can give you faith that you will see your boy in heaven." And then I told her of a mother who lived down in the southern part of Indiana. Some years ago her boy came up to this city. He was a moralist. My friends, a man has to have more than morality to lean upon in this great city. He hadn't been here long before he was led astray. A neighbor happened to come up here and found him one night in the streets drunk.
When that neighbor went home, at first he thought he wouldn't say anything about it to the boy's father, but afterward he thought it was his duty to tell him. So in a crowd in the street of their little town he just took the father aside, and told him what he had seen in Chicago. It was a terrible blow. When the children had been put to bed that night he said to his wife, "Wife, I have bad news. I have heard from Chicago today." The mother dropped her work in an instant and said: "Tell me what it is." "Well, our son has been seen on the streets of Chicago, drunk." Neither of them slept that night, but they took their burden to Christ, and about daylight the mother said: "I don't know how, I don't know when or where, but God has given me faith to believe that our son will be saved and will never come to a drunkard's grave."
One week after, that boy left Chicago. He couldn't tell why--an unseen power seemed to lead him to his mother's home, and the first thing he said on coming over the threshold was, "Mother, I have come home to ask you to pray for me;" and soon after he came back to Chicago a bright and shining light. If you have a burden like this, fathers, mothers, bring it to Him and cast it on Him, and He, the Great Physician, will heal your broken hearts.
God answered a prayer by adding exactly fifteen years to a man's life as requested.
More than half a century since, Rev. T. Charles of Bala was evidently near death, when a prayer-meeting of his friends was held, in which earnest prayer was offered by an aged Christian for his recovery; especially asking that fifteen years might be added to the useful life of his servant. The prayer was exactly answered. Mr. Charles filled up the fifteen added years in great usefulness and in full expectation of release at its end. On his last visit to some friends, he said that he could not expect to see them again, as he was now in the last year of his life. Strange as it may seem, his death occurred just at the termination of the fifteen years.
A blind girl read the Gospel by touch and lips, showing faith's perseverance and joy.
In France lived a poor blind girl, who obtained the Gospel of Mark in raised letters, and learned to read it by the ends of her fingers. By hard work, these became callous; and her sense of touch diminished, till she could not distinguish the characters. One day, she cut the skin from the ends of her fingers to increase their sensibility, only to destroy it. She felt that she must now give up her beloved book, and, weeping, pressed it to her lips, saying, "Farewell, farewell, sweet word of my heavenly Father, food for my soul! I must part with thee!" But to her surprise her lips, more delicate than her fingers, discerned the form of the letters. She read, "Gospel according to Mark." Her soul, overflowing with gratitude, pours out thanks before the throne of her Father in heaven. All night she perused with her lips the holy book, and her heart overflowed with joy at the new acquisition.
A bullet found inside an oak tree illustrates how apparent difficulties in Scripture can be resolved.
I remember reading, that, in cutting down an oak that must have been two hundred years old at the very least, there was found in the very heart of the oak a musket-bullet. When it was stated to the peasants and villagers that it was so, they said it must be a trick; that the woodman must have stuck it in, and pretended that it was found in the oak. But, when men of science and practical knowledge investigated it, they found it was beyond all doubt that the bullet was in the very heart of the oak; and there was no opening by which it could be inserted, and no symptoms of a rent by which it could have been admitted. But a country gentleman in the place turned over the leaves of his history, and he discovered, that in that very forest, when that tree must have been a mere sapling, a great battle was fought; that the presumption, nay, the certainty, was, that a bullet had fastened in the sapling; that as it grew and broadened in bulk, in size, in form, for two hundred years, it had grown over the bullet, and the bullet had come to be embedded and inserted in the very heart of it, without any opening by which it could have entered in past times: and thus the difficulty that perplexed at first became solved and easily explained by further and more extensive research. In the same manner, when we meet with difficulties in Scripture, when we cannot explain them to-day, lay them up for investigation to-morrow; and you will find, that, as we grow in light, all will become plain.
— Dr. Cumming
True business success requires a sanctified, earnest spirit fueled by fervent faith and love for God.
The earnest spirit of business (and men must be earnest, or they will do nothing),—the earnest spirit of business must be met and controlled, must be suffused and sanctified, by a still more earnest spirit of religion. A hollow and heartless piety can never guide such a business spirit as Hale possessed, and such as, in these days especially, all successful must possess. Strength must be combined with strength; earnestness must control earnestness; zeal must pierce into, and exalt and purify zeal; faith in eternal things, in the soul, in God, in Christ, in the Spirit, in heaven, must be clear, eagle-eyed, seeing at a distance, looking through clouds and storm; love to God must be a blazing fire like that on Elijah's altar, which flicked up the water, dust, and stones that filled the trenches. Say not such mighty faith, such fervent love, are impossible in this world of bustle, toil, and care; for Hale has demonstrated that the thing was practicable; and so has William Wilberforce; and so has Mr. Hardcastle the merchant; and so has Thomas Fowell Buxton the brewer; and so has Joseph John Gurney the banker, and many more. Amidst the beats of secular employments, they cooled their burning brows by opening windows that looked into eternity, and let in breezes that came blowing from the land where angels dwell. And, when their souls' chariot-wheels were ready to catch fire by the friction of their secular activity, faith in other things, and love to other things, was like cold water dropping down to prevent the flames. The world did not carry them away; did not overpower and conquer and burn them up: they remained, after all, masters of the world and of themselves, through the constant faith they had, that they were the servants of God and of Christ. J. Stoughton.
Historical market crosses symbolized sanctifying business dealings through remembrance of the cross.
It was a beautiful truth which our forefathers have symbolized, when, in most of our old market-towns, they have erected a market-cross, as if to teach the buyers and sellers to rule in their actions, and sanctify their gains, by the remembrance of the cross. The Israelites were taught the same in their encampment: every part of the camp looked towards the tabernacle. So the Chinese, though in superstition and ignorance, set up their idols in their shops. "Prayer and provender hinder no man's journey. There is no time lost in sharpening the scythe."
God cares for the smallest details of life, assuring us of His providential care.
When we think of the labor required to rear the few that are in our households, — the weariness, the anxiety, the burden of life, — how wonderful seems God's work! for he carries heaven and earth, and all realms, in his bosom. Many think that God takes no thought for any thing less than a star or a mountain, and is unmindful of the little things of life; but, when I go abroad, the first thing which I see is the grass beneath my feet, and, nestling in that, flowers smaller yet, and, lower still, the mosses with their inconspicuous blooms, which beneath the microscope glow with beauty. And if God so cares for "the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven,"
shall he not much more care for the minutest things of your life, "O ye of little faith"?
— Beecher
Parents trust God when He calls their children home, seeing them as lent by Him.
I am rather pleased when my neighbors gather on festive occasions and send for my children, and say, "Let the little girl come over and spend the day." We dress her with the greatest care, and send her to them with a secret pride of love, feeling that there is no greater compliment to us than that our friends want our children for the day. If God says to me, "I want your children," shall I not have faith in him? and shall I not dress them in their best, and send them to him? If you are following the ideal of a true life, what if husband or wife or child is called away, and you are left? You have but lent them to God, and you are following close after.
— Beecher
Faith in God's power to save can overcome even the deepest despair about salvation.
A man utterly despairing of his soul's salvation thought he might as well be in hell at once, and went to a river, with a design to throw himself in; but, as he was about to do it, he seemed to hear a voice saying to him, "Who can tell?" as if the words had been audibly delivered. His thoughts were arrested, and thus began to work on the passage mentioned. "Who can tell what God can do? Who can tell what purposes God will serve in my recovery?" By such thoughts as these, it pleased God to enable him, through all his doubts and fears, to throw himself by faith on Jesus Christ, as able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him to experience the riches of grace.
Faith falters when God's promises are neglected and His Word is set aside.
But we fools believe the promises as the man that read Plato's writings concerning the immortality of the soul. So long as the book was in his hand, he believed that all was true, and that the soul could not die; but so soon as he laid by the book, presently he began to imagine that the soul is but a smoke or airy vapor, that perisheth with the expiring of the breath: so we, at starts, do assent to the sweet and precious promises; but, laying aside God's book, we begin to call all in question.
— Rutherford
Faith trusts God's promise even in life-threatening situations.
A captive was brought before an Asiatic prince: the cimeter was already raised over his head, when, oppressed by intolerable thirst, he asked for water. A cup was handed him: he held it as if apprehensive lest the cimeter would fall while he was in the act of drinking. "Take courage!" said the prince: "your life will be spared till you drink this water." He instantly dashed the cup of water to the ground. The good faith of the barbarian saved him. The word had passed, it was enough; and the captive went on his way rejoicing.
Strong faith trusts God to provide abundantly, not ration sparingly.
A storekeeper of the Christian Commission was requested to cut the slices of bread thinner, as the supply was running low. He said, "Oh, no! I can't: the poor fellows are so hungry!"—"But our bread will soon be gone."—"Well, I have faith to believe the Lord will send us more before we are quite out." He did as he liked, feeding the hungry soldiers that pressed about him. The last loaf was taken from the shelf, and hundreds were still unfed, when an immense load of provisions was driven up to the headquarters of the Commission,—more than enough to supply all their wants. It came more than a hundred miles to Gettysburg, just in time. The Lord does not require thin slices, but a strong faith.
The unseen evidence of God is as certain as footprints in the sand prove a traveler passed.
A Frenchman was crossing the Great Sahara, in company with an Arab guide. He noticed, with a sneer, that, at certain times, his guide, whatever obstacles might arise, put them all aside, and, kneeling on the burning sand, called on his God. Day after day passed, and the Arab never failed; till at last, one evening, the philosopher, when he arose from his knees, asked him with a contemptuous smile, "How do you know there is a God?" The guide fixed his burning eyes upon the scoffer for a moment in wonder, and then said solemnly, "How do I know there is a God? How did I know that a man and a camel passed my but last night in darkness? Was it not by the print of his hoof in the sand? Even so." And he pointed to the sun, whose last rays were fading over the lonely desert, — "that footprint is not of man."
Faith uses means as God's ordinance but relies on God to bless them for healing.
Faith will teach thee to use means as God's ordinance; but rely on God to bless it. While Faith's hand is on the plough, her eye is in heaven. Annus, non ager, facit fructum, — "The influences of heaven, not the tillage of the husbandman, make it a fruitful year." Sometimes the physicians appoint a powder to be taken in wine or beer. Now, 'tis not the beer or wine that does the cure, but the powder; they being only used to convey it into the stomach. Thus mercy is handed over to us by the blessing of God in the use of means; yet think not the means do it, but the blessing of God mingled with it and infused into it. Gurnall.
Napoleon's immediate faith in possibility illustrates trusting God's power to accomplish the impossible.
Napoleon was passing along the ancient horrible road along the Echelles de Savoie, with his engineer, when he stopped, and, pointing to the mountain, said,
"Is it not possible to cut a tunnel through the centrails of yonder rock, and to form a more safe and commodious route beneath it?"—"It is possible, certainly, sire," replied his scientific companion. "Then let it be done immediately," replied the emperor.
Presuming on God's promises without true faith leads to certain ruin like trusting a shadow as a bridge.
The over-secure and self-confident person placeth his fond presumption on the rock of God's promise, and thereby draws as certain a ruin upon himself as he who ventures to go over a deep river without any other bridge than his own shadow. Spurstowe.
Renouncing worldly bribes for Christ yields far greater spiritual reward than gold or jewels.
RELIGION, Advantage of Mahmoud, the conqueror of India, found at Somnat a great idol, and cried to his followers, "God is one: destroy this false idol!" The Brahmins fell before him, pleading, "Spare our god Somnat, and we will give thee gold, pearls, and jewels of rarest lustre." The ruthless conqueror clove the idol with a blow of his battle-axe, when out rolled pearls, jewels, and gold, a hundred-fold more than the promised ransom. Such reward does religion give to those who renounce the specious bribes of the world for the cross of Christ.
Faith and provision enabled Williams to complete the Welsh Bible despite debt and hardship.
Long before the establishment of Bible Societies the Rev. Peter Williams, a pious distinguished clergyman of Wales, seeing that his countrymen were almost entirely destitute of the Bible, and knowing that the work of the Lord could not prosper without it, undertook with holy confidence, though destitute of the means, to translate and publish a Welsh Bible for his countrymen. Having expended all his living, and being deeply involved in debt, with the work unfinished, he expected every hour to be arrested and imprisoned, without the means or hope of release. One morning he had taken an affectionate leave of his family for the purpose of pursuing his pious labors, with an expectation that he should not be permitted to return. When just as he was mounting his horse a stranger rode up and presented him a letter. He stopped and opened it, and found to his astonishment that it contained information that a lady had bequeathed him a legacy of £300 sterling. "Now," says he, "my dear wife, I can finish my Bible, pay my debts, and live in peace at home."
Infidels preparing to mock Scripture ended up convinced of its truth through reading it.
The following facts were related by the Rev. Dr. Singer, the secretary of the Hibernian Bible Society, at the anniversary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in 1830:—
Some time since, in a midland county in Ireland, a discussion took place, arising from the operations of the Reformation Society, between a Roman Catholic and a Protestant clergyman. Many farmers and peasants from the neighborhood attended that discussion; and, being under the influence of infidelity, they did so merely for the purpose of ridiculing and censuring the arguments which were brought forward by the two clergymen. Many of the farmers and peasants who attended were themselves deeply read, or, at least, were well acquainted with the writings of infidels; whose works, strange to tell, have been circulated, in print and manuscript, through the country! They ridiculed the circumstance; it amused them; and they said, "we will have a discussion of our own." "You shall be the Roman Catholic," said one, "and I will be the Protestant; and our friends here shall be judges who displays the most ability and ingenuity." They carried their blasphemous object almost into effect: the time was appointed, and they seriously set about preparing for the contest. It was agreed that they should do what they had never done before—read the Scriptures, in order to prepare for the attack. And the result was, that those who did so became convinced of the truth and excellence of the Bible.
Reading the Bible thoroughly convinced a skeptic of its divine truth and led to conversion.
A gentleman was once asked in company, what led him to embrace the truths of the gospel, which formerly he was known to have neglected and despised! He said, "My call and conversion to God my Savior were produced by very singular means:—A person put into my hands Paine's 'Age of Reason.' I read it with attention, and was much struck with the strong and ridiculous representation he made of many passages in the Bible. I confess, to my shame, I had never read the Bible through; but from what I remembered to have heard at church, and accidentally on other occasions, I could not persuade myself that Paine's report was quite exact, or that the Bible was quite so absurd a book as he represented it. I resolved therefore that I would read the Bible regularly through, and compare the passages when I had done so, that I might give the Bible fair play. I accordingly set myself to the task, and as I advanced, I was struck with the majesty which spoke, the awfulness of the truths contained in it, and the strong evidence of its divine origin, which increased with every page, so that I finished my inquiry with the fullest satisfaction of the truth as it is in Jesus, and my heart was penerated with a sense of obligation I had never felt before. I resolved henceforth to take the sacred word for my guide, and to be a faithful follower of the Son of God.
A child's joy in reading the Bible inspired an infidel to embrace and defend its truths.
At an annual meeting of the Cambridge Bible Society, the Rev. Professor Scholefield related the following anecdote of Mr. Hone, the well known author of the Every Day Book.—Mr. Hone, in the days of his infidelity, was travelling in Wales on foot, and being rather tired and thirsty, he stopped at the door of a cottage where there was a little girl seated reading, and whom he asked, if she would give him a little water. "O yes, sir," she said, "if you will come in, mother will give you some milk and water;" upon which he went in and partook of that beverage, the little girl again resuming her seat and her book. After a short stay in the cottage, he came out and accosted the child at the door, "Well, my little girl, are you getting your task?" "O no, sir," she replied, "I am reading the Bible." "But," said Mr. Hone, "you are getting your task out of the Bible."—"O no, sir, it is no task to me to read the Bible—it is a pleasure." This circumstance had such an effect upon Mr. Hone, that he determined to read the Bible too, and he was now (said Professor Scholefield) one of the foremost in upholding and defending the great truths contained in that holy book.
# 61. Conversion of Papists.
An elderly blacking seller studies the Bible diligently and discovers justification by faith.
An old man, a seller of blacking, took his stand for many years in a very crowded quarter of Paris. A Bible was presented to him. This poor creature was only permitted by the police to sell his blacking after sunset: in the day he was occupied in preparing it; but after standing in the street till late, to obtain 5d. or 7d. by his blacking, he devoted many hours of every night to studying the sacred volume, and reading it to his wife, by the light of a glimmering lamp, till one or two in the morning. It was astonishing to those who visited him how rapidly he proceeded, not merely to read and comprehend, but even to compare different parts of the word of God together. In a few months, at more than seventy years of age, he had obtained such an harmonious view of the Scriptures, as to be much better acquainted with their historical contents than his Christian instructor. When he discovered the doctrine of justification by faith, he was overwhelmed, and could not believe that any one had discovered it before, or, at least, so clearly as himself.
His wife being ill, she was obliged to go to the hospital, and her husband contrived to carry the Bible in a bundle of clothes, that he might read it to her. The priest soon heard of his having the Bible, and attempted to frighten him from reading it, offering him a comfortable support for life, if he would give it up, and return to confession. He replied, "I should then be a hypocrite; I would rather die from want than become one. Since I read this book, I can no longer give up my conscience to another."
God faithfully provides for believers' needs even in poverty and hardship.
Philip Melancthon, being at the conferences at Spire, in 1529, made a little journey to Bretten, to see his mother. This good woman asked especially as his wife suffered much from sickness.
His wages were but 6s. 3d. weekly, out of which he was sometimes obliged to pay a boy for assistance; but when times of peculiar necessity occurred, God always raised him up a friend. Dr. (afterwards Sir James) Stonehouse repeatedly assisted him; and sometimes his good neighbors, in humbler life, united to supply his wants. In one of his letters in his old age, he thus writes, with much Christian simplicity:—"As for my part I am but very poorly in body, having very sore legs, and cannot perform the business of my flock without help. As to the things of this world, I have but little share; having my little cot to pray and praise God in, and a bed to rest on: so I have just as much of this world as I desire. But my garment is worn out, and some of my Christian friends think they must put their mites together and buy me one, or else I shall not be able to endure the cold in the winter: so I can say, Good is the Lord! He is still fulfilling his promise, 'I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.'"
# ROVERSY.
him what she must believe amidst so many disputes, and repeated to him her prayers, which contained nothing superstitious. "Go on, mother," said he, "to believe and pray as you have done, and never trouble yourself about religious controversies."
Faith trusts God's promise of deliverance from sin and condemnation even in death.
Mr. John Avery, a minister, having been driven from his native country by the persecution of Archbishop Laud, fled to New England
Upon his arrival, he settled for a short time at Newbury; but, receiving an invitation to Marblehead, he determined upon a removal to that place. Having embarked in a small vessel, together with Mr. Anthony Thacker, another worthy minister, there arose a tremendous storm, by which the vessel struck against a rock, and was dashed to pieces. The whole company, consisting of twenty-three persons, got upon the rock, but were successively washed off and drowned, except Mr. Thacker and his wife. Mr. Thacker and Mr. Avery held each other by the hand a long time, resolving to die together, till, by a tremendous wave, the latter was washed away, and drowned. The moment before this happened, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, saying, "We know not what the pleasure of God may be. I fear we have been too unmindful of former deliverances. Lord, I cannot challenge a promise of the preservation of my life; but thou hast promised to deliver us from sin and condemnation, and to bring us safe to heaven, through the all-sufficient satisfaction of Jesus Christ. This, therefore, I do challenge of thee." He had no sooner uttered these words, than he was swept into the mighty deep, and no more seen. Mr. Thacker and his wife were also washed off the rock; but, after being tossed in the waves for some time, the former was cast on shore, where he found his wife a sharer in the deliverance.
# 172. Triumphs of Faith.
Faith trusting God's promises wins victory despite few and feeble circumstances.
Jonathan and his armor bearer count on God and ignore obstacles. No matter how few and feeble those who look to God for direction and acknowledge Him in all their ways, God will give the victory. Let faith venture out on His promises
Columbus’s faith in the unseen led him to discover America despite opposition and danger.
Columbus believed that a new world could be discovered by sailing westward. Before he discovered America, no one, perhaps, shared his belief. In fact, they looked upon him as being unbalanced in mind. But something in his soul led him to feel and believe that there was an unknown country beyond the vast Atlantic. One time it is said he found fruits on the shore of western Europe, washed there by the Atlantic’s waves, entirely different from any fruit produced in Europe. His belief in a world beyond the watery horizon led him at last to launch out on a vast unknown sea, to find a land that white men had perhaps never seen. With strange stars above him, and strange, wild seas around him, storms without and mutinies on board, none of his crew hopeful but himself, that wonderful man, encouraged, perhaps, by the mysterious voice of an unseen one, said to have been heard on the voyage encouraging him forward, kept the prow of his bark pointed westward, till the lights of Indian fires on the shore of the new world proved to him that his marvelous faith in the existence of the unseen world to the west was not in vain. Humboldt tells us that Columbus said that he heard a voice instructing him to sail west.
Christian life is like a pendulum ticking one step at a time, encouraging daily endurance.
When Mr. Sankey and I were in London a lady who attended our meetings was brought into the house in her carriage, being unable to walk. At first she was very skeptical; but one day she said to her servant:
“Take me into the inquiry room.”
After I had talked with her a good while about her soul she said:
“But you will go back to America, and it will be all over.”
“Oh, no,” said I, “it is going to last forever.”
I couldn’t make her believe it. I don’t know how many times, I talked with her. At last I used the fable of the pendulum in the clock. The pendulum figured up the thousands of times it would have to tick, and got discouraged, and was going to give up. Then it thought, “It is only a tick at a time,” and went on. So it is in the Christian life — only one step at a time. That helped this lady very much. She began to see that if she could trust in God for a supply of grace for only one day, she could go right on in the same way from day to day. As soon as she saw this, she came out quite decided. But she never could get done talking about that pendulum. The servants called her Lady Pendulum. She had a pendulum put up in her room to remind her of the illustration, and when I went away from London she gave me a clock — I’ve got it in my house still.
A hungry child's faith in God's provision comforts his mother during hardship.
Johnny Hall was a poor boy. His mother worked hard for their daily bread. "Please give me something to eat, for I am very hungry," he said to her one evening. His mother let the work that she was sewing fall upon her knees, and drew Johnny toward her. As she kissed him the tears fell fast on his face, while she said, "Johnny, my dear, I have not a penny in the world. There is not a morsel of bread in the house, and I cannot give you any tonight." Johnny did not cry when he heard this. He was only a little fellow but he had learned the lesson of trusting in God's promises. He had great faith in the sweet words of Jesus when he said, "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name he will give it you." "Never mind, mama; I shall soon be asleep, and then I shall not feel hungry. But you must sit here and sew, hungry and cold. Poor mama!" he said, as he threw his arms around her neck and kissed her many times to comfort her. Then he knelt down at his mother's knee to say his prayers after her. They said "Our Father," till they came to the petition, "Give us this day our daily bread." The way in which his mother said these words made Johnny's heart ache. He stopped and looked at her, and repeated with his eyes full of tears. "Give us this day our daily bread." [Illustration.] When they got through he looked at his mother and said, "Now mother, do not be afraid. We shall never be hungry any more. God is our Father. He has promised to hear us, and I am sure he will." Then he went to bed. Before midnight he woke up, while his mother was still at work, and asked if the bread had come yet. She said "No; but I am sure it will come." In the morning, before Johnny was awake, a gentleman called who wanted his mother to come to his house and take charge of his two motherless children. She agreed to go. He left some money with her. She went out at once to buy some things for breakfast; and when Johnny awoke, the bread was there, and all that he needed! Johnny is now a man, but he has never wanted bread from that day; and whenever he was afraid since then, he has remembered God's promises, and trusted in him. -- Lutheran Herald
Small beginnings can lead to great outcomes through God's providential plan.
When the air balloon was first discovered, a matter-of-fact gentleman contemptuously asked Dr. Franklin what was the use of it. The doctor answered this question by asking another:—" What is the use of a new-born infant? It may become a man." This anticipation of great things springing from small beginnings should induce us to put into practice those holy promptings which at certain seasons move our souls. What if we ourselves and our work should be little in Zion; cannot the Lord cause the grandest issues to proceed from insignificant beginnings? Who hath despised the day of small things?
Faith enables peaceful resignation to God's will, even when losing valued blessings.
The habit of resignation is the root of peace. A godly child had a ring given him by his mother, and he greatly prized it, but on a sudden he unhappily lost his ring, and he cried bitterly. Recollecting himself, he stepped aside and prayed; after which his sister laughingly said to him, "Brother, what is the good of praying about a ring—will praying bring hack your ring?" "No, sister," said he, "perhaps not, but praying has done this for me, it has made me quite willing to do without the ring, if it is God's will; and is not that almost as good as having it?" Thus faith quiets us by resignation, as a babe is hushed in his mother's bosom. Faith makes us quite willing to do without the mercy which once we prized; and when the heart is content to be without the outward blessing, it is as happy as it would be with it; for it is at rest.
Believing God's promises means confidently receiving and acting on His blessings.
A person comes to the bank with a check. He believes it to be honestly his, and the signature to be correct. He puts it down on the counter, and the clerk puts out the money. But see, the man does not take it. He stands and loafs about; and the clerk looks at him, and wonders what he is at. At last, when the person has been there long enough to wear the good man's patience out, the clerk says, "Did you bring the check to have the money?" "Yes, I handed it in." "Well, then, why do you not take the money and go about your business?" If he is a sensible man, he delays no longer; nay, he would not have delayed so long. He takes the money and departs in peace. Now dear soul, if thou hast a promise from God—"He that believeth is not condemned," or "He that believeth hath everlasting life": dost thou believe? Then take the blessing and go about your business.
Faith trusts God's promises and finds strength and zeal even in small measures of blessing.
Our littleness does not alter God's promise. Our motto is, "With God anywhere: without God, nowhere." Our vessels are never full till they run over. The little over proves our zeal, tries our faith, casts us upon God, and wins His help.
Making candles in national colors symbolized hopeful anticipation of Italy's unification and victory.
One may so believe as already in a sense, to possess:
In a little parlor down-stairs of Mencci’s house in Staten Island were three large altar-candles in the Italian colors of red, white and green which, Mencci told us (says a correspondent of the _Century_) he and Garibaldi had amused themselves at making in a leisure hour “to illuminate the Campidoglio of Rome when the Italian army should enter the Eternal City and make it the capital of United Italy.” When Rome was recovered, three other candles in the Italian colors were actually sent to Garibaldi there. (Text.)
True citizenship is in heaven, not earthly nations or customs.
A Chinese lived in Yokohama some twelve years ago. He was a house-painter by occupation, and went about wearing a very much bedaubed suit of clothes, caked here and there with white and green and yellow. He was a Christian and attended church regularly. When the leader said, “Let any one pray who will,” John never failed to take part. The gladness of his soul spoke itself forth in a kind of Cantonned Japanese, the full meaning of which was known to himself and God only. When the _Shinasan_ (Mr. Chinaman) prayed, many a face in the room became wreathed in smiles, and sometimes a hand was necessary over the mouth to help hold the hearer steady. John paid no attention; he cared not who laughed at his prayers, he was happy, God had forgiven him; and tho a Chinese, he said good-by to the world, and cut his cue off. One day a Korean friend met him and said, “Honorable sir from the great country, where is your cue?” “Cue? Cue belong no good, makee cut off.” “But you will not dare to go home, you have lost your country.” “_Maskee_ country,” said John; “my country belong _Htien-kuoa, Htien-kuoa_” (“heaven, heaven”), pointing upward.--JAMES S. GALE, “Korea in Transition.”
Faith in God provides a solid foundation compared to agnostic doubt and despair.
See THEOLOGY SHAPED BY EXPERIENCE.
EXPERIENCE THE BEST ARGUMENT
William Duncan, who later became “The Apostle of Alaska,” when a young man newly converted, encountered an aged commercial traveler, a well-known agnostic, but a stranger to young Duncan, and a battle royal of argument on religion ensued.
The disciple of Taine and Voltaire was getting the better of the discussion with the young novice, when, leaping to his feet and looking his adversary squarely in the eye, Duncan said: “Sir, you are twice my age. I will ask you on your honor as a gentleman to answer me honestly this question: Here I am a young man. I have grown up in the Christian faith, and am happy in it. Would you advise me to give it all up and come over to where you stand, without God, without faith, and without hope?” “No, young man,” said the old agnostic; “when you put it that way, I can not advise you to drop your religion and faith. Keep them and be happy.” Duncan retorted: “Don’t you see you are standing on a rotten bridge that will break down, while I am standing on a solid bridge? Your heart belies your head, and you admit that your arguments are empty words.” (Text.)
God transforms our imperfect efforts into ultimate success when we trust Him.
A captain’s little son had tried all day to make a boat, but at night he had only succeeded in misshaping the wood. His father saw the tears on the sleeping lad’s face, and took up the wood and with the deft skill of experience soon changed the shapeless block into a beautiful little boat. Then, leaving it on the table by his son’s bed, he lay down to sleep. When morning dawned and the boy saw the boat, so perfect in its shape and style, he marveled how his own failure had been turned into success. Will not God take our endeavors, poor and faulty tho they be, and change them into triumphs? Let us do our best and leave our work at nightfall, awaiting His hand to complete it. (Text.)
Faith is confidently trusting God’s unseen promises like a child awaiting daylight.
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.)
Faith reveals the unseen bridge of God’s provision as we step forward confidently.
* * * * *
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.)
Theodore Thomas persevered in faith that public appreciation for music would grow.
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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.)
Faith in a moral universe supports belief in heaven and eternal justice.
Dr. George A. Gordon, in a sermon on “The Land of Pure Delight,” says:
The world of our ultimate and supreme concern, the world to which we give the name heaven, paradise, eternity, is the world of pure spirituality. I ask, what grounds have we for believing in the reality of that world? The answer, the sole answer which assumes many forms, is that we believe in the moral conception of the universe in which we live.
Let me illustrate. Longfellow, in one of his beautiful sonnets, speaks of being at Newport News after the war, and while there he sees a nameless grave, over which there was this inscription:
“_A Union Soldier, Mustered Out!_”
That is all--“A Union Soldier, Mustered Out!” And Longfellow said: “Here was a man who gave his all, his life, his name, that I might live. He gave his all, his life, his name, and went into oblivion that the Union might live.” On what basis did he make his sacrifice? The sense of duty. He died because he felt that it was his duty to die, because he felt that if he was true to himself he could not withhold that sacrifice. If the universe is worthy of that servant, will it let that soldier die forever?
Jesus gave himself on the cross for the world. Why did he do it? Because his moral nature told him to do it. He believed in the moral ideal of human life and died that men might be pure and come to their best. He died for an ideal--that alone explains His sacrifice.
Faith in the good sustains life’s joy; losing it causes decay and despair.
In the following verse Eugene Lee-Hamilton shows the result of losing faith in the good:
There is a tale of Faustus--that one day,
Lucretia, the Venetian, then his love,
Had, while he slept, the rashness to remove
His magic ring, when fair as god he lay;
And that a sudden horrible decay
O’erspread his face; a hundred wrinkles wove
Their network on his cheek; while she above
His slumber crouched, and watched him shrivel away.
There is upon Life’s hand a magic ring--
The ring of Faith-in-Good, Life’s gold of gold;
Remove it not, lest all Life’s charm take wing;
Remove it not, lest straightway you behold
Life’s cheek fall in, and every earthly thing
Grow all at once unutterably old.
Faith’s measure determines the blessings one receives from God’s door.
* * * * *
Art thou a beggar at God’s door? Be sure thou gettest a great bowl, for as thy bowl is, so will be thy mess. “According to thy faith,” saith He, “be it unto thee.”
— UNIDENTIFIED
Earnest searching for what benefits others will eventually succeed.
Tho the inventors have busied their brains for almost a century in an effort to find a substitute for wood pulp in the production of paper, their efforts hitherto met with failure. Recently an industrial concern has issued its prospectus, printed upon paper manufactured from cornstalks in its experimental plant. The paper is of good quality and proves the availability of cornstalks for this purpose.
An earnest search for that which will benefit humanity will sooner or later be rewarded with success. (Text.)
Looking upward inspires others toward heaven, contrasting faith and unbelief.
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The solar look is not only indicative of a desire in the individual to aspire to great and noble attainments for himself, it is sure to lead him to point out the upward pathway of the soul to others. Aspiration is an inspiration to altruism.
One of the most beautiful works of the celebrated artist in terra-cotta, George Tinworth, is his alto-rilievo of C. H. Spurgeon representing the great preacher surrounded by the children of Stockwell Orphanage, which he founded. Mr. Spurgeon with a heavenly smile is pointing to the skies and the children are gazing upward as he points. This statue is a vivid contrast to the one which stands in a square in Northampton, the monument to that pronounced infidel, Charles Bradlaugh, the “English Ingersoll.” The statue represents Bradlaugh addressing the people, but he is pointing directly downward. (Text.)
Patience and faith overcome fear and bring hope beyond present troubles.
W
WAIT AND SEE
Be not swift to be afraid;
Many a ghostly thing is laid
In the light from out the shade,
Wait and see.
Do not live your sorrows twice;
Fear is like a touch of ice;
Faith can kill it in a trice,
Wait and see.
Why expect the worst to come?
Pondered cares are troublesome,
Joy makes up a goodly sum,
Wait and see.
Better than your wildest dreams
Is God’s light that for you gleams.
When the morning cloudy seems,
Wait and see.
— MARIANNE FARNINGHAM
Spiritual guidance and prayer can lead to success even in competitive business environments.
Altho Mrs. J. Alden Gaylord conducts a bond-investment business in Wall Street, she firmly believes that financial success can be gained in that “frenzied” business center by godly spiritual guidance. Mrs. Gaylord has achieved the distinction of taking over the management of the affairs of her late husband and running them on original lines. Says the New York _Herald_:
Seated in a spacious office, this plucky little woman spends her time discussing with her clients the flotation of security issues and the financing of railway lines. Religious mottoes are posted on the walls, and a Testament and prayer-books occupy a conspicuous place on the desk.
“Yes, every morning after I arrive in this city,” said Mrs. Gaylord, “I spend a few minutes in Old Trinity to pray. That was a custom of my husband’s, who was one of the most godly men that lived. Before we begin business here we have a prayer-meeting in the office. I have a good many young men here to whom I am teaching the business. I conduct the services, assisted by my partner, Mr. Fletcher.
“We carry on our work here according to the teaching of the Scriptures. Even if I make only one-quarter of one per cent, that is enough. And business is coming in from every part of the country. It is perfectly wonderful. Only yesterday two loans came in--one for $3,000,000 and another for $2,000,000.
“The deals will be closed to-morrow. I believe the Lord has educated me in all this. I know He is helping me, and the money I make will all go to the Lord. I only want to provide for my grandchildren. All the rest will go to charity and missions.” (Text.)
A drunkard's wife’s prayer and a sermon led to his lasting conversion and changed life.
In a regiment of soldiers stationed at Edinburgh, there was a sergeant named Forbes, a very abandoned man, who got in debt for liquor wherever he could. His wife washed for the regiment, and thus obtained a little money. She was a pious woman, but all her attempts to reclaim him were long unsuccessful. During one of Mr. Whitefield's visits to that city, she offered her husband a sum of money if he would for once go and hear him. This was a strong inducement, and he engaged to go. The sermon was in a field, as no building could have contained the audience. The sergeant was rather early, and placed himself in the middle of the field, that he might file off when Mr. Whitefield ascended the pulpit; as he only wished to be able to say that he had seen him. The crowd, however, increased; and when Mr. Whitefield appeared, they pressed forward, and he found it impossible to get away. The prayer produced some impression on his mind, but the sermon most deeply convinced him of his sinfulness and danger. He became an altered man, and proved the reality of his conversion, by living for many years with the strictest economy, in order to liquidate the claims of every one of his creditors.
A mathematical problem about soul's value led a scholar to conversion and gospel ministry.
A young man, who had graduated at one of the first colleges in America, and was celebrated for his literary attainments, particularly his knowledge of mathematics, settled in a village where a faithful minister of the gospel was stationed. It was not long before the clergyman met with him in one of his evening walks, and after some conversation, as they were about to part, addressed him as follows: "I have heard you are celebrated for your mathematical skill; I have a problem which I wish you to solve." "What is it?" eagerly inquired the young man. The clergyman answered, with a solemn tone of voice, "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" The youth returned home, and endeavored to shake off the impression fastened on him by the problem proposed to him, but in vain. In the giddy round of pleasure, in his business, and in his studies, the question still forcibly returned to him. "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" It finally resulted in his conversion, and he became an able advocate and preacher of that gospel which he once rejected.
Faith trusts God's provision beyond visible means, unlike mere reliance on rituals.
Francis Newman once tried to explain to Dr. Martineau the difference between his own religious attitude and that of his eminent brother, the cardinal. “It is a matter of faith,” he said. “I have faith, and the cardinal has none. The cardinal comes to a river, and believes that he can not possibly cross it unless he takes a particular boat with a particular name painted on it. But I believe that I can swim.” (Text.)--FRANCIS GRIBBLE, _The Fortnightly Review_.
