Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1909-03-18

men Of equal brains and ability have
done we cannot do; we are afraid
to lay our hands to the work of God
because we fear perchance we cannot
do that to which we have laid our
hand. To many a man the apprecia-
ton Of his own divine power is in
the terms of limitation rather than
in the terms OF real ability. How
many men we meet will tell us what
they cannot do, who would do thus
or so if they were able; VINO are SO
taken up with the consideration of
those things which God hath not
given them the ability to do that they
forget the potentialities divine and
eternal which God hath placed within
their own grasps and personalities.
st. Paul was a man who had meas
ured his abilities and knew what he
could do, who had no mean apprecia-
ton of what he could do. When he
met Jesus face to face there was no
hesitation as to whether he was a
man who was divinely called, as to
whether he was the man who was
called to do the work. The knowl-
edge that God had called him was
sufficient knowledge that he had the
ability, that he was of some worth
for the bringing of the good news of
the Gospel to those who were in sin.
Paul was a man who had some ap-
probation of himself, he knew what
he should do and the way he should
do it.
We do not have direction. We
beat against the wind, we waste our
time with futile beatings against the
air, we spread ourselves out too thin.
How many men there are who have
not achieved because they have tried
too many things, who have not had
enough self-appreciation to. know
wherein their abilities lie strongest.
AS Paul was a man who gave the
right emphasis to his life; so, con-
trariwise, there are men in the world
who with mediocre abilities have not
had the. ems to see the 1eadings of
their own powers, the guidance IL
Providence in their own lives who
have laid the emphasis in tho wrong
place and given their whole time and
eLdeavor to the working of things for
which they were never fitted. We
see that all over the world; men in.
the pulpit who ought to be at the
plow, men blowing the fields who
ought to be proclaiming the Gospel
OF Christ, men who are out of place
in the great mechanism of Gods eter-
nal plan, men who have never be-
come fitted for and have. never gotten
into their proper places, who have
never reached the point at which
their energies should be applied and
nave never seen the guidance of God
IN thei lives. I believe the secret Of
the success of every man who has
: influenced the world is to be found in
the emphasis which he laid upon
that which he was able to do. Called
for serious things, he did not attempt
to be the buffoon. Summoned to
bring men to the knowledge of the
glorious Gospel of Christ, he did not
attempt to be q Jester for a friend.
Bidder enliven life for those around
him by the appreciation of the things
which are humorous, he would stick
to that n thing, and that alone and
In that would achieve success. You
and I might neve have heard of
Martin Luther unless he had placed
the emphasis Alright. We might
never have heard Of Jesus Christ il
He had taken the taunts Of the Off
GERS and those in high places and had
given all that was best in Him over
to their whim and will, if He had
subyerted His holy power because
they laughed Him to scorn, because
they informed Him that He was scan
dalously wrong when He claimed to
be the Son of God. We might never
have heard Of Him unless He had
placed the emphasis Of His whole
life correctly.
1t is a rule in the law of mechanics
that a man to achieve success must
direct his power to the right place.
There is only n place where he can
achieve most by the application of
power, and that is where the owe
needs most to be applied. And SO,
II we are to run our course and in
her1t a crown, we must first of all
ind out what our abilities are and
then lay our efforts where God leads
81 us. s4 $780,
While there are many men who
have appreciation of their " ability
and have measurable success in lay
Ing their abilitiesInSthe line OF least
resistance, there have been men who
have not accomplished anything be-
cause they had no tenacity. who were
50 anxious for attainment all at once
that they would constantly shift