"What about your beads? Where are they going to be hung?"
"Oh, I don't know. My husband says they cannot be hung on the wall beside the Word of God."
"You will have to put them in the bedroom."
"That will not do either, for my husband shares that with me, and he will not have them there."
"Well, then, you must make a corner somewhere in the house, all to yourself," we told her laughingly, but not laughing in our heart.
Her suffering was evident to all; and one day one of the enquirers suggested that her husband should secretly give her an egg to eat, and so break her vow. Turning round, he said, "No, I do not want to do this, but will continue to pray for her. When the Holy Spirit opens her understanding, she will break it herself." This gave us an opportunity of telling him and all present that the Lord would not compel any one to serve Him, but wanted a willing people. We must wait, until in His light she would see light, and realize her nothingness and the utter vanity of her own striving after righteousness. So she was left with Him who was able to remove the veil from her face, and lead her into the true and living way, fully assured that He had already begun a gracious work in her heart.
CHAPTER XIII
THE BATTLE GROWS FIERCER
At that time the Lord began to prepare Mrs. Lü's heart through dreams and visions, as is so often His way in heathen countries. Once after her husband had forbidden her to have idols and burn incense in his house, she was sitting alone in the evening, feeling dejected and forlorn, and sadly counting her beads to herself. At last she grew too weary to continue and sought her pillow. That night she dreamed that some one she had never seen before came to her, put his foot on her breast, and said, "And still you will continue to recite your prayers to Buddha!" She awoke terrified, and for a long time was unable to shake off the fear that had laid hold of her heart.