ildren
soon forgot their hunger in sleep; but not so the mother. She saw no
help for them but in God, and she spent the night-watches in spreading
before him their necessities. As the morning approached her confidence
in God increased, and that passage from his word rested with peculiar
sweetness upon her mind, 'Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou
dwell in the land, and _verily thou shalt be fed_.'
"Morning came. The starving children managed by her direction to build
them a little fire, and almost before they had commenced telling their
mother of their hunger, a stranger came in. She introduced herself as
Mrs. J., saying she had known for some time that there was a new family
in the neighborhood, and intended to call and make their acquaintance,
but had been prevented. _During the last night she had been so troubled
and disturbed about it_, that she thought she would run in early, lest
she should again be prevented, and see if there was any way in which she
could be of service to them. The mother in bed, with her head bound to
mitigate its pain, revealed the story of her sufferings, and the good
lady soon learned their entire destitution. They were immediately made
comfortable; and all will be glad to know that it was the beginning of
better days to that deserted wife and mother."
THE NECESSITY OF ASKING GOD'S BLESSING EVERY DAY, UPON YOUR DAILY WORK.
EVERY WORK, HOWEVER GOOD, NEEDS SPECIAL, SPECIFIC, DAILY PRAYER FOR ITS
PROSPERITY.
"A colporteur in the Wabash valley became quite discouraged and was
almost ready to give up his work, on account of the smallness of his
sales. On every side, his ears were filled with complaints of 'hard
times;' the wheat crop had partially failed two years in succession--the
California emigration, and railroad and plank-road speculations had
almost drained the country of money. Frequently he would be told, that
if he could come after harvest they would buy his books, but that it was
impossible to do so then. His sales were daily decreasing, and he became
more and more disheartened, until one night, after a laborious day's
effort, he found that he had _only sold twenty-five cents' worth_! He
felt that he could not go on in this way any longer. He was wasting his
strength and time, and the money of the Society. On examination of the
state of his heart, he found that it had, gradually and almost
unconsciously, grown cold and departed far from Christ. He felt that he
had n
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