r to obtain
what I need." There was no trust in God. No real belief in the truth of
that word: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness: 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 accordin