“Thank you, my dear mother; that first bit is clear,” said Joseph. “Now I want the second: the third is the most puzzling of all, but we shall come to that by and bye.”
“You surely know what it means by to ‘trust in Him,’ Joseph?” said Leah.
“I think I do, sister mine, for it was mother’s humble trust in the Lord that supported her in her sorrows: that I saw, I felt, though I was a child; but—” he hesitated.
“Well, my boy?”
“To trust, I think, means to have faith. Now, Henry Stevens said the other day, Jews have no faith—and how can we trust, then?”
“My dearest Joseph, do not let your companions so mislead you,” answered his mother, earnestly. “I know that is a charge often brought against us; but it is always from those who do not know our religion, and who judge us only from those who, by their words and actions, condemn it themselves. The Jew must have faith, not only in the existence of God, but in the sacred history our God inspired, or he is no Jew. He must feel faith—believe God hears and will answer, or his prayers, however fervent, are of no avail. Without faith, his very existence must be an enigma, and his whole life misery. Oh, believe me, my dear children, as no nation has God so near them, so no nation has so much need of faith, and no nation has so experienced the strength, and peace, and fulness which it brings.”
“But how does our verse mean that we are to trust in the Lord, mother?” asked Ruth.
“It belongs both to the first and last division of the verse, my love. If we commit our ways unto the Lord, and trust also in Him (remember one is of no avail without the other), then He will bring it to pass.”
“Ah! that is it. I am so glad we have come to that,” eagerly exclaimed Joseph. “Mother, does it mean, can it mean that our Father will grant our prayers, will give us what we most wish?”
“If it be for our good, my boy; if our wishes be acceptable in His sight; if they will tend to our eternal as well as our temporal welfare; and we bring them before Him in unfailing confidence, believing firmly that He will answer in His own good time—we may rest assured that He will answer us, that He will grant our prayers.”