Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-06-27
OUR RIGHT SPHERE.
PEOPLE wHoLosE THEIR WAY.
DE-. Talmage Draws . Lesson from
the Story OF Hagar.

TEXT: "And God opened her eyes, and
she sdiO a t0eu Of tudter; and she t0ent, and
filled the bottle i1ith tCdter, and gaze the lad
drink. .H-Genesis XXI, 10.
Morning breaks upon Beer-sheba. There
Is an early stir In the house Of old Abraham.
There has been trouble among the domestics.
Hagar, an assistant In the household, and her
son, a brisk lad Of sixteen years, have become
impudent and insolent, AID Sarah, the mis-
tress of the household, puts her foot down
very hard, and says that they viii have to
leave the PREMISES They are packing up
now. Abraham, knowing that the journey
before his servant and her son will be
very long and across desolate places,
in the kindness of his heart sets about put
ting up some bread and q bottle with water
In it. 1t is very plain lunch that
Abraham provides, but warrant you there
would have been enough Of it had they not
lost their way. "God be with you ~ said old
Abraham as he gave the lunch to Hagar, and
a good many charges as to how she should
conduct the journey. lshmael, the boy, I
suppose, bounded away in the morning light.
Boys always like a change. Poor Ishmaell T.
He has no idea Of the disasters that are ahead
of him. Hagar gives one long, lingering looki
on the familiar place where she had spent SOL
many happy days, each scene associated with
the pride and Joy of her heart-young Ish-I
mael.
sitting and moves across the desert with mi
sufferable suffocation. Ishmael, the boy, be-
gins to complain, and lies down, but Hagari
rouses him up saying nothing about her own
weariness or the sweltering heat; for mothersI
can endure anything Trudge trudge, trudge.
wearily and slowly the miles slip. A tama-
Tind that seemed hourSago to stand only just
a little ahead. inviting the travellers to come
under its shadow, now Is as far off as ever, or,
seemingly so. Night drops upon the DESERT,
and the travellers are pilowless. Ishmael,.
very weary, suppose, instantly falls asleep.
Hagar, as the shadows of the night be-
gin to lap over each sother-H Hagar
hugs her weary boy to her bosom and thinks
of the fact that it is her fault that they are
in the desert. A star looks out, and every
falling tear it kisses with a sparkle. A
wing of wind comes over the hot earth
and lifts the locks from the fevered
and in her dreams travels over the weary
day, and half awakes her son by crying out
in her sleep: "Ishmaeli IshmaelF' And
SO they go ON, day after day and night after
night for they have lost their way. No
path in the shifting sands, no sign in the
-four, the water gone from the bottle.
What shall she dor AS she puts
her fainting Ishmael under stunted
shrub of the arid plain, she sees the
bloodshot eye, and feels the hot hand
and watches the blood bursting from the
cracked tongue, and there Is a shrek in the
desert Of Beer-sheba: 1--WE shall diel we
shall dep Now, no mother was ever made
strong enough to hear her son cry in vain for
q drink. Heretofore she had cheered her boy
by promising speedy end of the journey,
even smiled upon him when he felt desper-
ately enough. Now there is nothing to do
but place him under shrub and let him die
hoI tbn,10ht hot oh xuoN11I cif nj
watch until the spirit of her boy would go
away forever, and then she would breathe
out her own life on his silent heart; but as the
boy began to claw his tongue in agony
of thirst, and struggle in distortion, and beg
his mother to slay him, she cannot endure
the spectacle. She puts him under shrub
and goes Off bow shot, and begins to weep
until all the desert seems sobbing, and her
cry strikes clear through the heavens; and an
angel of God comes out on cloud and looks
down upon the appalling grief and cries:
"Hagar, what aileth theeP' She looks up
and she sees the angel pointing to well Of
water, where she fills the bottle for the lad.
Thank Godl Thank Godl
learn from this Oriental scene, in the first
place, what a sad thing it is when people do
not know their place, and get too proud for
their business. Hagar was an assistant in
that household, but she wanted to rule there.
She ridiculed and jeered until her son, Ish-
mael, got the same tricks. She dashed out
her own happiness and threw Sarah into a
great fret; and if she had stayed much longer
in that household she would have upset calm
Abraham's equilibrium. My friends one
half of the trouble in the world to-day comes
from the fact that people do not know their
place; or, finding their place, will not stay in
1t. When we come into the world, there is
always a place ready for us. A place for
Abraham A place for Sarah. A place for
Hagar A place for Ishmael. A place for
you and place for me. Our first duty is to
find our sphere; our second is to keep it.
We may be born in a sphere far
Off from the one for which God
finally intends us. Sextus V was horn on the
low ground, and was swineherd, God called
him up to waive scepter. Ferguson spent
his early days in looking after the sheep; God
called him up to look after stars. and be a
shepherd watching the focks Of light on the
hillsides of heaven. Hogarth began by en-
craving pewter pots; Godraised him to stand
In the enchanted realm Of a painter. The shoe
makers bench held Bloomfield for little
while; but God called him to sit in the chair
of philosopher and Christian scholar. The
soap boiler Of London could not keep his son
IN that business, for God had decided that
Hawley was to be one of the greatest astrono-
mers Of England. On the other hand, we
may be born in sphere a little higher than
that for which God intends us. We NAV be
born in castle, and play in costly con-
servatory, and feed high bred pointers and
angle for gold fish in artificial ponds, and be
familiar with princes; yet God may have
fitted us for carpenters shop, or dentists
forceps, or a weaver's shuttle or black
smiths forge. The great thing Is to find Just
the sphere for which God intended us, and
then to occupy that sphere and occupy it for
ever. Here is a man God fashioned to make
a plow. There is man God fashioned
to make constitution. The man
who makes the plow is just as hon.
orable as the man who makes the constitu-
tion, provided he makes the plow as well as
the other man makes the constitution. There
is woman who was made to fashion a robe,
and yonder is one intended to be queen and
wear 1t. 1t seems to me that in the one case
as in the other, God appoints the sphere; and
the needle Is Just as respectable is His sight as
the scepter. do not know but that the world
would long ago have been saved If some of
the men out Of the ministry were in it, and
some of those who are in 1t were out of it.
really think that one-half of the world may
be divided into two-quarters-thos who
have not found their sphere, and those
who having found it. are not willing to stay
there. How many are struggling for posi-
tion little higher than that for which God
intended them. The bondswoman wants to
be mistress. Hagar keeps crowding Sarah
The small wheel of a watch, which beautiful
ly went treading its golden pathway, wants
to be the balance wheel, and the sparrow,
with chagrfn, drops into the brook, because
II cannot, like the eagle cut a circle under
she sun. In the Lords army we all want to
be brigadier generals. The sloop says
More mast; more tonnage; more canvas