Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1903-01-09

are not appreciated. That they are not
receiving the support it is their right
to expect, and that the unlxindly crit
icism and strong opposition met with
are more than they can endure They
become discouraged, they lose heart
and confidence, they are ready to
throw up their hands in despair and
give up the task altogether. 1t is
then that God comes, as He came to
Zerubbabel, and whispers to the trou-
bled soul to look away from self and
the disbursements and learn that it
is mot by might, nor by power, but
by the Spirit of God that His work
is to be accomplished Oh, what
lesson to learnt No Christian can do
constant and successful work for God
until he has mourned in despair with
Zerubba bel over the uncompleted wall
and temple of the task God has given
him to do, and has finally, In the last
dying hope of utter encouragement,
looked up and caught a vision of the
Eternal God and behe1d His omnipo-
tent arm moving to his aid.
imagine can see Zerubbabe1 sit
ting with bowed head in his home after
another discouraging day on the city
ss1i1 anu dl1tiOSb thC MY
of the temple It has been a push
and a drive all day, and apparently
nothing done. He has been unable to
inspire the people with a sense of the
task before them. They are more con-
cerned about their homes and the
qualification of their own desires and
the carrying out Of their own plans
than they are to perform the work
of the Lord. He has just abeut made
up his mind that with the morning
light he will send in his resignation
and abandon the people to their indif-
ference and their fase, when 10! a
gentle tap on the door announces
visitor. WITHOUT looking up, too dis
couraged to be hospitable, or even
civil, he impatiently bids the waiting
one to enter. Dear Christian soul, have
You ever felt as Zerubbabel did that
night? Have you come home discour-
aged from Sunday school, from
cEslrch, from young peoples meeting,
from junior meeting, from any of the
varied forms Of religious activity
which it may be God has called you
to perform for Him, and thrown your
self into a chair or upon the couch
and, covering your face with your
hands. given way to your discourage
ment? Such9experiShces come to us
all. But Jet us return to ZerubDabel
and see who his visitor is and what his
message.
The door is pssshed open and the
prophet, ze@hariah, enters. A quick
glance at the bowed figure tells him
the whole story. God. has sent him
met in TINA Cod oorr,a ho
the s6ul is best prepared to receive His
message and to learn the Divine les
son. If the prophet had come few
days before, when Zerubbabel was con-
fdently depending upon himself and
was planning a new method to arouse
the people to the task before them,
his message wauld not have been re-
ceived or understood. But now the
Jewish leader has come to the end
of his resources. He has tried every
thing to make the Lords work go.
Perhaps he had stirred the good Ia
dies up and had tried church suppers
and bazars on the temple site to en-
courage the rebuilding. Perhaps he
had offered prizes out on the city wall
for the fastest and best worker, or bag
started unique little entertainments,
sort of side shows, you know, to draw
the crowds out to the walls in the
hope that once he had Q&nticed them
there he could set them to work. And
SO it had gone on, day after day. Each
day saw a failure OF his own plans,
and each night sleepless eyes and
| wakeful brain sought for new meth
DDS to be tried on the morrow. Have
you ever been in poor ZerubbabePs
| FIX? Have you wrestled in such a des-
peratesway with the work of the Lord
Well, at last his resour3eful brain, and
his wonderful patience and persever-
ance, failed him. The prophet I'M
derstands it all as he quickly advances
across the room through the gather
ing gloom. With a ten3er touch, born
of the infinite love of God which floods
his soul after his wonderful visions,
he places his hand upon the bowed
| head of the discouraged leader, and
| speaks in CHEEKY, confident tones:
s'This is the word of the Lord unto
| Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by
| power, but by My Spirit, saith the
| Lord of Hosts"
| Like drowning man grasps after a
straw, the soul of Zerubbabei eagerly
drinks in the prophets messages As
he lifts his head new light bursts in
upon his soul. He is humbledeas he
| realizes how he has magnified his own
importance in the Lords work and
| has failed to reckon God as fac
tor in the5tasks given him to do. Here
was revelation to him of the re-
| lation which God always sustains to the
work He gives His children TO do for
Him. Here was a powerful factor in
| the accomplishment of the great pub
lie and religious enterprises which he
had entirely overlooked. A new hope
j lcindled in his breast az he felt 4hs