One day a sister called on us: She said: "Your brother said in his sermon a
few nights since that we should bear one another's burdens. How can we do
this if we do not open our hearts to others and tell what our burdens are?
Do you think it would be all right for me to open my heart to you and tell
you my burden?" "Certainly," I answered, "if your soul is burdened." "I
have," said she, "a heavy burden to carry. Now, my husband no longer loves
me, but he has given all his affections to my sister. They are likely to
elope at any time, and my heart is broken. In fact, the grief and trouble I
have endured have brought on heart-trouble." As she finished her story, we
asked, "Is there anything we can do? We should be glad to do anything to
help you bear your burden. Do you think it would be a good idea to have a
day of fasting and prayer?" "Yes," said she, "I think it would do good." We
told her to set the day, and she chose the next Friday. On that day we all
fasted and prayed, especially for this man. It was not over two weeks
before God got hold of his heart and gloriously saved him. A happier person
than this sister I do not think you could have found. It seemed that she
could not cease praising God and thanking us.
In order to defray the expenses at home, she raised poultry for the market.
To show her gratitude to us, she brought chickens, eggs, and other things
for our use until we were afraid she was really robbing herself. She fairly
loaded us with good things, and when we called her attention to how
generously she was supplying our needs and told her we were afraid she was
doing too much, she would say, "Oh, no; I never can repay you for what you
have done for my family." We would say, "Do not try too hard to repay us,
as it was God who did the work for you." I heard of the man not many years
ago, and was still sweetly saved.
In our company were Brother and Sister Gates and their three children, who
had come with us from Kansas. Not only had Brother and Sister Gates helped
us financially, but they had been as a father and mother to us all. They
were now about to leave us, and they seemed somewhat burdened lest we
should suffer need, as the people had not yet been supplying our needs very
much. Of course, the reason why God had not been supplying us otherwise up
to this time was not hard to find. The Lord knew that they were supplying
our need and that we required no additional help from others.
Before leaving us, the sister said, "What are you going to do after we are
gone?" I answered: "The Lord has always been a present help in time of
need. You and Brother Gates have been very helpful to us, for which we are
thankful; but, sister, you must remember that is was God working through
you. If God had not been blessing your souls, doubtless we should not have
received special help from you. So, after all, the help you gave us came
from God. I am sure when you are gone the Lord will not forsake us."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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