Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1894-05-02

the triumphant wrestler broke the dark
ness with the cry, Thanks be untC
I God, who giveth Us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. " There is {
widows heart that first was desolated
! b. bereavement and since by the anx.
iCttes and trials that came in the support
of family
1t Is sad thing to see a mau contend.
ing for livelihood under disadvantages.
but to see a delicate woman, with help
less little ones at her back, fighting the
giants of poverty and sorrow, is most
affecting. 1t was a humble home, and
passersby knew not that within those
four walls were displays of courage
more admirable that that of Hannibal
crossing the Alps, or the pass of Their
mopyle or Balaklava, where "into the
jaws of death rode the six hundred. -
These heroes had the whole world to
cheer them on, but there were none to
applaud the struggle in the humble
/ home. She fought for bread, for cloth
! ing, for fire, for shelter, with aching
head, and weak side, and exhausted
strength, through the long night by the
brook Jabbok. Could it be that none
would give her help? Had God forgot
ten to be gracious? No, contending soull
! The midnight air is full Of wings COM
ing to the rescue. She hears it now in
the sough of the night wind, in the rip
pie of the brook Jabbok-the promise
made so long ago ringing down the sky,
''Thy fatherless children, will preserve
them alive, and let thy widows trust in
mer'
Some one said to a very poor woman,
'How is it that in such distress you
keep cheerful?' She said: II do it by
what l call cross prayers. When l had
my rent to pay and nothing to pay il
with, and bread to buy and nothing to
But now do not get discouraged. If
go along the street, when l come to O
corner Of the street / say, The Lord
help me-. then go on until come to
another crossing of the street, and again
say, The Lord help mel And so /
utter a prayer at every crossing, and
since have got into the habit Of say
ing these cross prayers 1 have been
able to keep up my courage. "
Purified by Fire.
Learn again from this subject that
people sometimes are surprised to find
out that what they have been strug
Cling with in the darkness is really an
"angel of blessing" Jacob found in the
morning that this strange parsonage was
not an enemy, but a God dispatched
messenger to promise prosperity for him
and for his children. And so many a
man, at the close of his trial. has found
out that he has been trying to throw
down his own blessing. If you are
Christian man, will go back in your
history and find that the grandest things
that have ever happened to you have
been your trials. Nothing short of
scourging, imprisonment and ship
wreck could have made Paul what he
was.
When David was fleeing through the
wilderness pursued by his own son, he
was being prepared to become the sweet
singer of Israel The pit and the dun
geon were the best schools at which
Joseph ever graduated. The hurricane
that upset the tent and killed Jobs chill
dren prepared the man of Uz to write
the magnificent poem that has astound-
ed the ages There is no way to get the
wheat out of the straw but to thrash it,
There is no way to purify the gold but
to burn it. Look at the people who have
always had it their own way. They are
proud, discontented, useless and unhap-
py. If you want to find cheerful folks, go
among those who have been purified by
the fire. After Rossini had rendered
William Tell' the five hundredth time
a company of musicians came under his
window in Paris and serenaded him.
They put upon his brow golden crown
of laurel leaves. But amid all the ap-
plause and enthusiasm Rossini turned to
a friend and said, 81 would give all this
brilliant scene for few days Of youth
and love. " Contrast the melancholy feel
ing of Rossini, who had everything this
world could give him, to the joyful ez'
perience of Isaac Watts, whose misfor;
tunes were innumerable, when he says:
The hill of Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets
Before we reach the heavenly fields
Or walk the golden streets.
Then let our songs abound
And every tear be dry
We are marching through lmmanuel's
ground
To faiTer worlds on high.
Marks of the Combat.
It is prosperity that kills and trouble
that saves. While the Israelites were
ON the march, amid great privations
and hardships, they behaved we'll. After
awhile they prayed for meat, and the
sky darkened with great flock OF
ouails, and these quails fell in large
multitudes all about them, and the Is
raelites ate and ate and stuffed them
selves until they died Oh, my friends,
it is not hardship or trial or starvation
that iniures the soul, but abundant sup
nlv. II is not the vulture of trouble
that eats up the Christians life; it is
the ouails, il is the quailsl You will
vet find out that your midnight wrestle
nv the brook Jabbok is with an angel
Of God. come down TO bless and save.
-. ,.c,a;,, that while Our wrestling |