The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1889-10-30

us feel our complete dependence upon
God. King Alphonso said that II he had
been present at the creation he could
have made better world than this.
What pity he was not present! 1 do
not know what God will do when some
men die, Men think they can do any
thing until God shows them they can do
nothing at all. We lay our great plans
and we like to execute them. 1t looks
big. God comes and takes us down. AS
Prometheus was assaulted by his enemy,
when the lance struck him 1t opened q
great swelling that had threatened his
death, and he got well. So 1t is the ar
row of trouble that let's out great swell
lings of pride. We never feel our de-
pendence upon God until we get into
trouble. / was riding with my little
child along the road, and she asked II
she might drive. said: Certainly" I"
/ handed over the reins to her, and l
had to admire the glee with which she
drove. But after awhile we met team,
and we had to turn out. The road was
narrow, and 1t was sheer down ON both
sides. She handed the reins over to me,
and said: 81 think you had better take
charge Of the horse" So we are all
children; and on this road Of life we
like to drive. 1t gives one such an ap-
pearance Of superiority and power. 1t
looks big. But after a while we meet
some obstacle, and we have to turn out,
and the road is narrow, and 1t Is sheer
down on both sides; and then we are
willing that God should take the reins
and drive. All! my friends, we get upset
SO often because we do not hand over the
reins soon enough.
Can you not tell when you hear man
pray, whether he has ever had any
trouble? l can. The cadence, the
phraseology indicate it. Why do women
pray better than men? Because they
have had more trouble. Before man
has had any trouble, his prayers are
poetic, and he begins away up among
the sun, moon and stars, and gives the
Lord great deal of astronomical in
formation that must be highly crafty
ing. He then comes down gradually over
beautiful tablelands TO "forever and ever
amen" But after man has had trouble,
prayer Is with him taking hold Of the
arm Of God and crying out for help. /
have heard earnest prayers on two or
three occasions that remember.
Once, on the Cincinnati express train,
going at forty miles the hour, and the
train jumped the track, and we were
near chasm eighty feet deep; and the
men who, a few minutes before, had been
swearing and disappearing God, began
to pull and jerk at the bell rope, and got
up on the back Of the seats and cried
out, 80 God, save us!' There was an
other time, about eight hundred miles
out at sea, on laundering steamer,
after the last lifeboat had been split
aner than hndling wood. They prayed
then. Why Is 1t you so often hear peo-
pie, in reciting the last experience Of
some friend, say: "He made the most
beautiful prayer ever heard?" What
makes II beautiful? It is the earnest
ness Of 1t. Oh, tell you a man is in
earnest when his stripped and naked
less, bottomless ocean Of eternity.
1t is trouble, my friends, that makes
US feel our dependence upon God. We
10 not know our own weakness OF. God g
strength until the last plank breaks. 1t
Is contemplate in us when there is
uothing else 10 take hold OF, that we
,atch hold Of God only. A man is unfor-
tunate In business. He has 10 raise a
good deal OF money, and raise II quickly.
He borrows on word and note all he can
borrow. After awhile he puts mort
gage on his house. After awhile he puts
q second mortgage on his house. Then
he puts lien on his furniture. Then he
makes over his life insurance. Then he
aaof0na oil bta ,nrnnartv Than ba 0oaa
10 his father-in-law and asks for helpl
Well, having failed everywhere, COM
pletely failed, he gets down on his knees
and says: 20, Lord, l have tried every
body and every thing, now help me out
Of this financial trouble" He makes
God the last resort instead OF the first
resort. There are men who have paid
ten cents on a dollar who could have
paid hundred cents on dollar II they
had gone to God in time. Why, you do
not know who the Lord is. He Is not
an autocrat seated far up in q palace,
from which He merges once year, pre-
,eded by heralds swinging swords TO
clear the way. No. But a Father, will
ing at our call, TO stand by us in every
srisis and predicament OF life.
] tell you what some OF you business
men make me think Of. A young man
goes of from home TO earn his fortune.
He goes with his mothers consent and
benediction. She has large wealth but
he wants 70 make his own fortune. He
goes far away, falls sick, gets out OF
money. He sends for the hotel keeper
where he is staying, asking for lenience,
and the answer he gets Is: "If you don't
pay us Saturday night you WIN be re-
moved 10 the hospital" The young man
sends 10 a comrade in the same building.
No help. lie writes to banker who
was a friend OF his deceased father. Nc
relief. He writes to an old schoolmate,
but gets no help. Saturday nightcomes,
and he Is moved TO the hospital.
Getting there he Is frenzied with grief,
and he borrows sheet Of paper and q
postage stamp and he sits down and he
writes home, saying: Dear mother,
lm sick unto death. Come" II is ten
minutes Of ten o'clock when she gets
the letter. At ten o'clock the train
starts. She is five minutes from the
depot She gets there in time TO have
five minutes TO spare. She wonders why
train that can 20 thirty miles an hour
,an not 90 sixty miles an hour. She
rushes into the hospital: She says: my
son, what does all this mean? Why
iidn't you send for me2 You sent "a
everybody but me. You knew could
and would help you. Is this the reward
get for my Kindness to you always?''
She bundles him up, takes him home,
and gets him we'll very soon.
Now, some OF you treat God just as
that young man treated his mother.
When you get into financial perplex-
ity, you call on the banker, you call on
the broker, you call on your creditors,
you call on your lawyer for legal coun.
sel; you call upon everybody, and when
you can not get any help, then you go TO
God. You say:
20 Lord, come TO Thee. Help me
now out Of my perplexity." And the