Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1895-08-24
ACCOMAC c. H. VA. SATURDAY. AUGUST a. 1895
slOns bu1It.
The Ministry of Trouble.

world is brighter than heaven. Well,
dear souls, I do not blame you. 1t is
natural. But after awhile you will be
ready to go. 1t was not until Job had
been worn out with bereayements that
he wanted to see God. 1t was not until
the prod;gal got tired Of living among
the hogs that he wanted to go to his
fathers house. 1t is the ministry OF
trouble to make this world worth less
Snd heaven worth moro.
Again, it is the use of trouble to
make us feel our dependence upon God.
Men think that they can do anything
until God shows them they can do moth
ing at ALL We lay our great plans, and
we like to execute them. 1t looks big.
God comes and takes US down. As Pro-
metheus was assaulted by his enemy,
when the lance struck him it opened a
great swelling that had threatened his
death, and he got well. So it is the ar
row of trouble that lets out great swell
ings of pride We never feel our depend
ence upon God until we get trouble. /
was riding with my little child along
the road, and she asked if she might
drive. said, Certainly" handed
over the reins to her, and had to adj
mire tho glee with which she drove.
But after awhile we met a team and we
had to turn out. The road was narrow,
and it was sheer down on both sides.
She handed the reins over to me and
said, II think you had better take
charge of tho horse" So we are all
children, and on this road of life we like
to drive. 1t gives one such an appear
ancc of superiority and power. 1t looks
big. But after awhile we meet some
obstacle and we have to turn out, and
the road is narrow, and it 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.
After a man has had trouble, prayer
is with him taking hold of the arm Of
God and crying out for help. have
heard earnest prayers Oh two or three
occasions that [ remember. Once, on
the Cincinnati express train, going at
40 miles the hour, the train jumped the
track, and we were near chasm so feet
deep, and the men who, q few minutes
before, had been swearing and bias
pheming God, began to pull and jerk at
the bell rope and got up on the backs of
the seats, and cried out, 80 God, save
us!''
There was another time, about 800
miles out at sea, on Il laundering steam
err, after the last lifeboat had been split
finer than kindling wood. They prayed
then. Why is it 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 it beautiful? 1t is the earnestness
of it. Oh I tell you, man is in ear
nest when his stripped and naked soul
wades out in the soundless, shoreless,
bottomless ocean of eternity.
A Helpful Father.
It is trouble, my friends, that makes
US feel our dependence upon God. We
do not knew eur own wealuessser-ess 81
strength until the last plank breaks. 1t
is contemplate in us when there is moth
ing else to take hold of that we catch
hold of God only. Why, you do not
know who the Lord is He is not an au-
tocrat seated far up i'll palace, from
which he energies once year, preceded
by heralds swinging swords to clear the
way. No. But Father willing, at our
call, 20 stand by us i'll every crisis and
predicament of life. I tell you what
some of you business men make me
think of, A young man goes off from
home to earn his fortune. He goes with
his mothers consent and benediction.
She has large wealth, but he wants to
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, eff you don't pay up
Saturday night, you'll be removed to
the hospital. ~
the same building. No help. He writes
to banker who was friend of his de.
ceased father. No relief. He writes to
an old schoolmate, but gets no help
Saturday night comes, and he is moved
to the hospital
Getting there, he is frenzied with
grief, and he borrows sheet of paper
and postage stamp, and he sits down,
and he writes home, saying Dear
mother, I am sick unto death. Come. "
It is ten minutes of 10 o'clock when she
gets the letter. At 10 o'clock the train
starts. She is five minutes from the de-
pot. She gets there in time to have five
minutes to spare. She wonders why
train that can go 30 miles an hour can
not 90 GO miles an hour. She rushes in
to the hospital She says: "My son,
what does all this mean? Why didn't
you send for me? You sent to every
body but me- You knew 1 could and
would help you. Is this the reward I
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 perplexity, you
call on the banker, you call on the bro
ker, you call on your creditors, you call
on your lawyer for. legal counsel; you
call upon everybody, and when you can
not get any help, then you go to God.
You say: 80, Lord, I come to thee.
Help me now out of my perplexity. "
And the Lord comes, though it is the
eleventh hour He says: "Why did you
not send for me before? As one whom
his mother comforteth, so will I comfort
you 1t is to throw us back upon God
that we have this ministry of tears.
The Office of Sympathy.
Again, it is the use of trouble to ca
pacitate US for the Office of sympathy.
The priests, under the old dispensation,