ighteousness: and all these things shall be added unto you."
I might reply something like this: "My dear brother, it is not your work
which supports your family, but the Lord; and He who has fed you and your
family when you could not work at all, on account of illness, would surely
provide for you and yours, if for the sake of obtaining food for your
inner man, you were to work only for so many hours a day, as would allow
you proper time for retirement. And is it not the case now, that you begin
the work of the day after having had only a few hurried moments for
prayer; and when you leave off your work in the evening, and mean then to
read a little of the word of God, are you not too much worn out in body
and mind, to enjoy it, and do you not often fall asleep whilst reading the
Scriptures, or whilst on your knees in prayer?" The brother would allow it
was so; he would allow that my advice was good; but still I read in his
countenance, even if he should not have actually said so, "How should I
get on, if I were to carry out your advice?" I longed, therefore, to have
something to point the brother to, as a visible proof, that our God and
Father is the same faithful God as ever He was; as willing as ever to
PROVE Himself to be the LIVING GOD, in our day as formerly, to all who put
their trust in Him.--Again, sometimes I found children of God tried in
mind by the prospect of old age, when they might be unable to work any
longer, and therefore were harassed by the fear of having to go into the
poor-house. If in such a case I pointed out to them, how their Heavenly
Father has always helped those who put their trust in Him, they might not,
perhaps, always say, that times have changed; but yet it was evident
enough, that God was not looked upon by them as the LIVING God. My spirit
was ofttimes bowed down by this, and I longed to set something before the
children of God, whereby they might see, that He does not forsake, even in
our day, those who rely upon him.--Another class of persons were brethren
in business, who suffered in their souls, and brought guilt on their
consciences, by carrying on their business, almost in the same way, as
unconverted persons do. The competition in trade, the bad times, the
over-peopled country, were given as reasons why, If the business were
carried on simply according to the word of God, it could not be expected
to do well. Such a brother, perhaps, would express the wish, that he might
be differen