The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1899-10-14
1.-THE Lord sent the

out losing their balance who arc every
| day endorsed by little annoyances-a
clerks i'll manners, or blot Of ink on
bill of lading. or the extravaganza of
| n partner who overdraws his account,
or the whispering Of store condolences
in the street. ON 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 fat on its face, these men
stood up and felt almost defiant, but
their life is going away now under the
swarm of these pestiferous nnnoyances.
"rhc Lord sent the hornet"
have noticed in the history of some
Of my congregation that their annoy
ances are multiplying and that they
have hundred where they used to have
ten. The naturalist tells us that wasp
sometimes has family of 10000 wasps,
| and it does seem as il every annoyance
Of your life brooded a million. BY the
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, !
think, to wake us from our lethargy.
There is nothing that makes n man so
| lively as nest of "ycllow jackets" and
think that these annoyances are in
tended to persuade us of the fact that
this is not n world for us TO stop in. If
we had bed of everything that was at
tractiye 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 well to do man l
would lie patient, too" You might as
well say: IF it were not for this water,
| would SWIM" or, 81 could shoot this
gun if it were not for the cartridge"
Whenyou stand chin deep in annoyances
is the time for you to swim out toward
| the great headlands of Christian attain
mcnt, so as to know Christ and the
power Of His resurrection and to have
fellowship with his suffcrings."
| Nothing but the furnace will ever
! burn out of us the clinker and the Stag.
small annoyances and veXations. 1t
takes just so much trouble to Fl us for
usefulness and for Heaven. The only
question is whether we shall take it in
the bulk or pulyerized and graduated.
| 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 picccmcal. Bet
ter have five aching teeth than one
| broken jaw; better ten fly blisters than
an amputation; better 20 squalls than
one cyclone. There may be n ference
of opinion as to allopathy and homeo-
| 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
81 10 10 la q
have bank, you would a great deal
rather that so men would come in with
checks less than 500 than to have two
dcpositors 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 remember
that little rs well as great annoyances
equally require you to trust in Christ for
succor and for deliverance from impa-
thence and irritability. Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace whose mind is
| stayed on Thee"
In the village of Iamelin, 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 a piper
came out one day and played a very
sweet tune, and all the vermin followed
him, followed him to the banks of the
Wcser, and then he blew blast, and
they dropped in and disappeared for
ever. or course, this is fable, but I
wish ] could on the sweet flute of the
Gospel draw forth all the nibblng and
burrowing 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?" suppose about
$4,000 touches. l hear the canvas say
ing: "Why do you keep me trembling
with that pencil so long? Why don't
you put II on In one dash?" mo-" says
Mr.. Church; IL know how to make a
painting. 1t will take $4,000 Of these
touches" And j want you, my friends,
to understand that II is these ten thou
sand annoyances which, under God, are
| making up the picture OF your life, 10