A poor, humble Christian woman had a claim on some property in a neighboring State. It was in law, and she was summoned to attend court at a certain time. Having scarcely money enough for her daily bread, she was obliged to borrow the means to take her there, and pay some cheap board while awaiting the conclusion of the trial. She was positively assured by the lawyers, that she would receive several hundred dollars. She was detained five weeks, instead of one, as she expected, and then the suit was postponed till Fall. She was in agony of mind; in a strange place--owing for board and washing, and no money to take her to her home. Having spent a whole night pacing the floor and calling on the Lord to redeem his promises, she felt the fresh air would do her good, and sadly took her way down a side street. She had gone but three blocks when she found a diamond ring. Being accustomed to the ownership of diamonds in her younger days, she knew very nearly its value; took it home, watched the principal papers, and the same evening saw a reward of seventy-five dollars offered for it. We can imagine that joy lent wings to her feet, and thanksgiving filled her whole heart. The sum was sufficient to pay her bills, bring her back and return a portion of the borrowed money.
Cast Out Into The Street, Yet Not Forsaken.
A piteous wail was heard on the street one day, and a poor Scotchman crossed over to see the trouble. A widow and three children sat on their few articles of household furniture. Put in the street, when they could no longer find five dollars for the rent of the kennel in which, for six months, they had not lived, but existed. He had just received five dollars for a piece of work, and was hurrying home with it to his sick wife, crippled mother and two children. He thought of the piece of meat--a long untasted luxury--he meant to buy; of the tea his mother so much craved, and hesitated. Could he give these up? But the streaming eyes of the children, and the mute despair on the face of the mother, took down the scale. He ran several blocks and found an empty basement; hired it for four dollars; enlisted the sympathy and help of a colored boy to carry the furniture; put up the stove, bought a bundle of wood, pail of coal, and some provisions with the other dollar; held a little prayer-meeting on the spot, and left with the benedictions of the distressed ones filling his ears. The recital of his adventure obliterated for the time all sense of their own desires, and they thanked God together that their loss had been the widow's gain. The next morning, while taking their frugal meal, a tea dealer, for whom this man had frequently put up shelves, came to say he was short-handed, and if the Scotchman was not very busy, he would give him a regular position in his establishment, at a better salary than he could hope to earn. Meanwhile, hearing his wife was sick, he had brought her a couple pounds prime tea, and it occurred to him that venison steaks were a little out of the ordinary run of meat, and, as he had a quantity at home, he brought a couple. Thus the Lord answered the prayer of the poor, and repaid the generous giver who sacrificed his money for the Lord.
A Persecutor Punished by the Lord.
A most devout, hard-working and poorly paid man, was the object of constant persecution by a cross-grained, ugly, infidel neighbor. For three years the thing went on, till the Christian thought he must remove from the place. He could not do it without breaking up his humble home, for which he had worked night and day. He and his wife were in deep distress; told their plans to the Lord; asked Him to direct them to another home, and then went to a newspaper office to advertise their little place for sale. The editor was out, and they preferred to see him--would return home and call again to-morrow. The next morning the infidel was found dead in his bed, from a stroke of apoplexy.
How God Answered My Prayer for $90.
"Suffice it, then, I was in debt. I was owing the large sum (large for a poor home missionary) of $90.00. Expecting soon to be called upon for the payment of it, and not seeing any way to meet it, I went to the Lord with it. Early in life I had made this resolution: that no man whom I was owing should ever ask me for money, and I not pay him; but now, I could see no way out; and if, as I expected, it should be demanded, I was not in a condition to meet it. Such was my condition when, on a certain day, the demand came. I took the letter from the office at noon. What now was to be done? Again I took the case to the Lord, and asked Him to help me pay it, so that my word need not fail, or his cause suffer reproach. I first determined to pay a part; but, as no letter could be sent out that day, I awaited the results of the day following. From the northern mail, which first arrived, I took a letter containing an unexpected draft of $50 to my wife, from parties whom we did not know, and had never seen, nor they us. Within twenty minutes more I was presented with a surprise of $40, from a people where I had preached for the six months past. Here was my $90, and, before the mail went out, I had my letter written and in the mail. Both were as unexpected as if they had come from heaven direct."
From Wealth, To Poverty.
A lady of superior culture and refinement, fell from opulence to extreme poverty, within four years. No less ready when at the bottom of fortune's ladder, than at the top, to do good as she had opportunity, she paid another poor woman's way to a neighboring State, where employment awaited her, and did it literally with her last dollar-and a-half! Supposing herself the possessor of a ten cent note, over and above the twelve shillings, she went with her somewhat feeble protege over Jersey city ferry, and saw her safely in the cars. Starting back, she was dismayed to find no ten cents in her pocket-book, and, all too late, remembered having paid it for a quart of milk that morning; the sole breakfast of herself and daughter. Night was approaching--what to do she did not know. She had a plain, worn, old gold ring on her finger; she took it off, offered it to the ferry-master, who would not take it, though she told him she found her money gone and would redeem it next day. She went back in the ladies' room and told it to the Lord, beseeching his assistance. Just then, a girl passing, jostled against her and knocked down her parasol. She picked it up, happened to turn it upside down, and out rolled a five-cent nickel! The Lord, then, hears prayer for even five cents to provide for the comfort and need of those whom He loves.