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A Lion in the Way

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 27, 1908

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 85, No. 35.

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“A Lion in the Way”

By K. C. RUSSELL

K. C. RUSSELL
IN the REVIEW of July 16, 1908, there appeared a report of a thrilling experience that Elder W. H. Anderson recently had in Barotseland, South Africa, in actually meeting “a lion in the way.” The experience shows some of the dangers to which those are subjected who leave friends and native land to carry this closing message to those in darkness. We all rejoice that the Lord so wonderfully delivered his servant from the jaws of the lion. It is rarely that our missionaries, who are laboring in these countries infested with wild beasts, report “a lion in the way.”
However, in America, it is a common thing to meet people who see lions in the way. This is especially true with some when they are asked to contribute of their means to carry this message to those who know it not, or when they are called to engage in some line of work in the Lord’s cause. How often the minister of the gospel has heard those who are convinced of the claims of God’s law in respect to the keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath tell of the lions they saw in the way, perhaps in a possible loss of a lucrative position, in social ostracism, etc. The one who is called to enter some department of the Lord’s work, it may be in the sale of literature, sees lions in the form of a dread in meeting the rebuffs incident to this work, or weather too hot, too cold, or too stormy, poor crops, financial panic, etc., etc. So we might continue to illustrate by showing the various kinds of “lions” that are seen by people in all the walks of life.
This familiar saying, “There is a lion in the way,” is one of the inspired proverbs spoken by Solomon. Prov. 26: 13. “The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way.” Let all note that it is the slothful man that makes that statement. The expression is a figurative one, illustrating the classes already indicated who see obstacles along the pathway of duty. Let the reader who sees a “lion in the way,” even in America, move forward by faith in God; and he will experience a deliverance equal to Brother Anderson’s in Barotseland.
Takoma Park, D. C.