The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1897-05-14

stances, pray and dig, dig and pray.
and pray and dig. How does that pas.
sage go? 1.-THE mountains shall de-
part and the hills be removed. but my
loving kindness shall not fail" II
your merchandise, If your mechanism,
II your husbandry fail, look out for ra-
vens. If you have in your desponden-
cy put God on trial and condemned
Him as guilty Of cruelty, move to-
day for a new trial. If the biography
of your life Is ever written, l will tell
you what the first chapter. and the
middle chapter, and the last chapter
will be about, If it is written ac-
curately. The first chapter about
mercy, the middle chapter about mer-
cy, the last chapter about mercy. The
mercy that lowered over your cradle.
The mercy that will hover over your
grave. The mercy that will cover all
between.
Again. this story of the text i'm
presses me that relief came to this
prophet with the most unexpected and
with seemingly impossible conveyance.
II it had been a robin-redbreast, or
a musical lark, or meek turtledove,
or a sublime albatross that had
brought the food to Elijah. it would
not have been so surprising. But, no.
1t was bird so fierce and inauspicate
that we have fashioned one Of our most
forceful and repulsive words out OF 1t
-ravenous. That bird has a passion
for picking out the eyes of men and
of animals. 1t loves to maui the sick
and the dying 1t swallows with vul-
turous guzzle everything it can put
it's beak on and yet all the food Elijah
gets for six months or year is from
ravens. So your supply is going to
come from an unexpected source.
You think some great-hearted, gen.
erous man will come along and give
you his name on the back of your note,
or he will go security for you in some
great enterprise. No, he will not.
God will open the heart of some Shy
lock toward you. Your relief will come
from the most unexpected quarter.
The providence which seemed ominous
will be to you more than that which
seemed suspicious. 1t will not be
chaffinch with breast and wing dashed
with white and brown and chestnut; 1t
will be black raven.
Here is where we all make our mis-
take. and that Is in regard to the col
or of Gods providence. A white prov
idence comes to us, and we say, "Oh,
it is mercy" Then black providence
comes toward us, and we say, "Oh, that
is disasterw The white providence
comes to you, and you have great
business success, and you have hun
bred thousand dollars, and you get
proud, and you get independent OF
God, and you begin to feel that the
prayer, Give me this day my daily
bread,' is inappropriate for you, fer
you have made provision for hundred
years. Then black providence comes,
and it sweeps everything away, and
then you begin to pray, and you be-
gin to feel your dependence, and be-
gin to be humble before God, and you
cry out for treasures in heaven. The
black providence brought you saliva
ton. The white providence brought
you ruin. That which seemed to be
harsh and fierce and dissonant was
your greatest mercy. 1t was a raven.
There was child born in your house.
All your friends congratulated you.
The other children of the family stood
amazed looking at the newcomer, and
asked a great many questions, gen
ealogical and chronological. You
said-and you said truthfully-that a
white angel flew through the room and
left the little one there. That little
one stood with its two feet in the
very sanctuary of your affection, and
with it's two hands it took hold of the
altar of your soul. But one day there
came one of the three scourges of chill
dren-scarlet fever, or Group, or diph-
theria-and all that bright scene van
ished The chattering. the strange
questions, the pulling at the dresses as
you crossed the'floor-all ceased.
Mrs. Jane Pithey, of Chicago, we'll
known Christian woman, was left by
her husband a widow with one half
dollar and cottage. She was palsied,
anu udu LAOIACI nlhSIy years VI age
to support. The widowed soul every
day asked God for all that was needed
in the household, and the servant even
was astonished at the precision with
which God answered the prayers of
that woman, item by item, item by
item. One day, rising from the fam
lily altar, the servant said, You have
not asked for coal, and the coal is
out"
Then they stood and prayed for the
coal. One hour after that the servant
threw open the door and said, "The
coal has come" A generous man,
whose name 1 could give you, had sent
as never before and never since-a
supply of coal. You cannot understand
it. do. Ravens! Ravens!