Quiet Talks on ServiceGordon, S. D. (Samuel Dickey)
Religion
Quiet Talks on Service
Gordon, S. D. (Samuel Dickey)
Christian life
We may learn of God by looking at man, made in His image. A story is told
of a merchant well known on both sides of the water, illustrating this.
His business interests are very extensive, with great stores in three of
the world's great cities. He has displayed great genius for controlling
the details of his vast enterprise. It is said that at one time when his
business was developing its greatness, this was his habit. He would come
to a clerk's desk unexpectedly and, sitting down quietly, note the
transactions that came along. Here was a sales slip; three yards of
calico, seven cents per yard, twenty-one cents; a bolt of tape, three
cents, total twenty-four cents; cash fifty cents, twenty-six cents change.
He would very quietly note the calculations, and call attention to any
inaccuracies.
He might stay there a half-hour. Then he was away again. It was never
known when he might come, nor where. He was always marked for his genial
courtesy toward all his employees. That was his habit for years, I am
told. His talent for details amounts to positive genius. And with this
goes the ability to originate and build up and keep ever growing his vast
business operations. And this man is but one of a very large class in our
day of specialized organization. This faculty of controlling both the
whole, and each detail, is a bit of the image of God in these men. Only
man is ever less than God. The best organization slips sometimes,
somewhere. But God never fails. Each of us is personal to Him. He can
think of each as though there were no other needing His thought, and He
does.
A little incident is told of George Müller of Bristol, England. He is the
man who taught the whole world anew how to trust God. Poor in his own
holdings, he expended millions of dollars in caring for orphans,
supporting missionaries, and distributing printed truth. He never asked
any man for money nor made any needs known. He trusted God for all and for
each. The two thousand and more orphans, and the cutting of his quill pen
were alike subjects of prayer with him.
At one time, in the course of his missionary travels around the world, he
was embarking on an ocean voyage. He was an old man at the time, and
accompanied by a young man who attended to the details of travel. After
they had boarded the steamer his companion came up hurriedly to say that
the steamer chair for Mr. Müller's use was not on board and he could not
get any trace of it. It would of course be a very necessary convenience
for the steamer trip. Mr. Müller inquired if the proper notice had been
sent to have it on board. Yes, all had been done that should have been
done. And now the time was very short.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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