The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1899-10-13
ing information. "The Lord sent tie
hornet"

tations. There are men here who went
through the gath of September, 1869,
and the panics of 1878 anC of 1898 with
out losing their balance who are every
day unhorsed by little annoyances-a
clerks i'll manners, or a blot of ink on
bill of lading, or the extravaganza of
a partner who overdraws his account,
or the whispering of store condolences
in the street, or the making of some
little bad debt which was against your
Judgment; but you wanted to please
somebody else.
1t is not the panics that Kill the mer-
chants. Panics come only once in ten
or 20 years. 1t is the constant din of
these everyday annoyances which is
sending so many of our best merchants
into nervous dyspepsia and paralysis
and the grave. When our national
commerce fell fiat on its face, these men
stood up and felt almost defiant, but
their life is going away now under the
swarm of these pestiferous annoyances.
1.-The Lord sent the hornet"
l have noticed in the history of some
of my congregation that their annoy
ances are multiplying and that they
have hundred where they used tNhave
ten. The naturalist tells US that wasp
sometimes has family of 10000 wasps,
and it does seem as if every annoyance
of your life brooded a million. BY the
help of God, to-day | want to show you
the other side. The hornet is of no use?
Oh, yes! The naturalist tells us they
are very important in the worlds econ
omy. They kill spiders, and they clear
the atmosphere. And l really believe
God sends the annoyances of our life
upon us to kill the spiders of the soul
and to clear the atmosphere of our
skies.
These annoyances are sent on US, L
think, to wake us from our lethargy.
There is nothing that makes man so
lively as a nest of yellow jackets" and
1 think that these annoyances are in
tended to persuade US of the fact that
this is not a world for US to stop in. If
we had bed of everything that was at
tractive and soft and easy, what would
we want of Heaven? We think that the
hollow tree sends the hornet, or we may
think that the devil sends the hornet.
want to correct your opinion. "The
Lord sent the hornet"
"Oh," you say, ''if only had the cir
cumstances of some we'll to do man l
would lie patient, too" You might as
we'll say: IF it were not for this water,
I would swim," or, II could shoot this
gun if it were not for the cartridge"
Whenyou stand chin deepin annoyances
is the time for you to swim out toward
| the great headlands of Christian attain
ment, so as to know Christ and the
power of His resurrection and to have
| fellowship with his eufferings."
Nothing but the furnace will ever
burn out of US the clinker and the Stag.
l have formed this theory in regard to
small annoyances and vexations. 1t
| takes just so much trouble to fit us for
usefulness and for Heaven. The only
question is whether we shall take it III
the bulk or pulverized and granulatea
Here is one man who takes it in the
bulk. His back is broken or his eye
sight put out, or some other awful
calamity befalls him, while the vast ma
jority of people take the thing piece
meal. Which way would you rather
have it? Of course, in piecemeal. Bet
| ter have five aching teeth than one
| broken jaw; better ten fly blisters than
an amputation; better 20 squalls han
one cyclone. There may be diff nee
of opinion as to allopathy and = -
| pathy, but in this matter of trouble
like homeopathic doSes, small pellets
of annoyance rather than some knock
| down dose of calamity. Instead of the
| thunderbolt give us the hornet. If you
| have a bank, you would a great deal
rather that so men would come in with
checks less than 500 than to have two
| depositors come in the same day, each
wanting his $4,000. In this latter case
you cough and look down to the floor
and you look up to the ceiling before
| you look into the safe. Now, my friends,
would you not rather have these small
drafts of annoyance on your bank of
faith than some all staggering demand
upon your endurance? But remem Der
that little as well as great annoyances
equally require you to trust in Christ for
succor and for deliverance from impa-
tience and irritability. Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace whose mind is
stayed on Thee"
In the village of Hamelin, tradition
says, there was an invasion of rats, and
| these small creatures almost devoured
the town and threatened the lives of the
population; and the story is that piper
came out one day and played very
sweet tune, and all the vermin followed
him, followed him to the banks of the
| Weser, and then he blew blast, and
| they dropped in and disappeared for
| ever. OF course, this is a fable, but
wish | could on the sweet flute of the
| Gospel draw forth all the nibbling and
burrowiDg annoyances of your life and
| play them down into the depths for
ever.
/ How many touches did Mr.. Church
give to his picture of "Cotopaxi" or his
Heart of the Andes?" l suppose about
| $4,000 touches. | hear the canvas say
ing: "Why do you keep me trembling
with that pencil so long? Why don't
you put it on in one dash?" mo, says
Mr.. Church; II know how 10 make a
painting. 1t will take $4,000 of these
! touches" And / want you. my friends,
! to understand that it is these ten thou
sand annoyances which, under God, are
making up the picture of your life. to
be hung at last in the galleries of
Heaven, fit for angels to look at. God
| knows how to make picture.
1 go into a sculptor's studio and see
him shaping a statue. He has chisel
| in one hand and a mallet in the other.
and he gives very gentle stroke-click,
| click click! | say: "Why don't YOU