Help at the Very Last Moment. Faith Rewarded.
A clergyman in the State of New York, through the influence of a disaffected member, was unfairly and precipitately deprived of his pulpit, which involved a large family in necessity. At supper the good man had the pain of beholding the last morsel of bread placed upon the table without the least means or prospect of a supply for his children's breakfast. His wife, full of grief with her children, retired to her bed. The minister chose to sit up and employ his dark hours in prayer, and reading the promises of God. Some secret hope of supply pervaded his breast, but when, whence, or by whom, he knew not. He retired to rest, and in the morning appeared with his family, and offered family prayer. It being the depth of Winter, and a little fire on the hearth, he desired his wife to hang on the kettle, and spread the cloth upon the table. The kettle boiled, the children cried for bread; the afflicted father, standing before the fire, felt those deep emotions of heart over his helplessness and impending starvation which those reared in affluence never know.
While in this painful state some one knocked at the door, entered, and delivered a letter into the minister's hand. When the gentleman was gone the letter was opened, and to the minister's astonishment it contained a few bank bills, with a desire for acceptance. So manifest an answer to prayer from Divine Goodness could not but be received with gratitude and joy, and fulfills to the very letter these promises: "Verily thou shalt be fed." Psalm 37:3. "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Heb. 13:5.
To ascertain how this occurrence came to take place, this remarkable coincidence of relief at the identical moment of time when there was the last appeal to God, the incident was communicated to the editor of a religious journal. Having an intimacy with the gentleman said to be the one whose hand had offered the seasonable relief, he determined the next time he made him a visit to introduce the subject, and, if possible, to know the reason that induced the generous action. The story was told with a modest blush which evinced the tenderness of his heart. On interrogation, he said "he had frequently heard that minister. On a certain morning he was disposed for a walk; thought in the severity of the winter season a trifle might be of service, as fuel was high; felt a kind of necessity to enclose the money in a letter; went to the house, found the family, delivered the paper and retired, but knew not the extreme necessity of the minister and his family, either at that time nor till this very moment when his friend introduced the subject. Thus it is seen none but God knew the want or moved the hand that gave the supply, and brought them to meet at the right time.