Booth, Catherine Mumford, 1829-1890; Salvation Army -- Great Britain -- Biography
She had this marvellous faith because she obeyed and struggled to throw
herself on the Lord; but faith was not _natural_ to her any more
than it is to you or me.
Often money was short, and she hardly knew how she would be able to feed
and clothe her family: this was a sore trial of her faith. On one such
occasion she wrote to her mother:--
'We have not at present received as much as our travelling expenses and
house rent. I feel a good deal perplexed, and am sometimes tempted to
mistrust the Lord. But I will not allow it. Our Father knows!'
Later on we get a sight of her own experience in one of her letters, when
she said:--
'I am much tried just now by perplexities of every kind; uncertainty,
from a human standpoint, hedges me in on every side. Satan says it is
useless trying to steer straight through such a labyrinth; but I am
determined to hold on to the promises, come what will. My God is the
living God. He sees me, knows me, loves me, cares for me, wants to have
me with Him in Glory, as much as He did Abraham, or Paul, or John. If
this be true, what have I to fear?'
And again:--
'"Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see
the Salvation of God?" This is a precious word. It has kept my soul alive
many a time when Satan has almost overthrown me. "If thou canst believe,
all things are possible to thee. Never mind whether anybody else can or
cannot. If others are too strong to let Me carry them, if thou art weak
enough to throw up all self-effort, and trust Me with thy whole weight, I
will carry thee, and thou shalt glorify Me." I know this is the way.
Hence the babes go in with the simple and the great sinners, while the
reasoners, and the strong, and the proud, and the fearful are shut out.'
Again, to one who was cast down, and tempted to be discouraged because of
his failings, she writes:--
'It is well to see them, for how can we take hold of Jesus to mend what
we don't see? It is best to know ourselves, but we Salvationists are in
danger of erring on the other side. We look too much at ourselves apart
from Him who is or would be our righteousness, sanctification, and
redemption. Faith in Him as your keeper will do more in five minutes than
years of conflict without it.'
Once, in another letter, she gives us a beautiful bit of her own soul's
experience on this subject:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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