p. 16 | Simple Faith

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 7, 1903

Simple Faith

THE following incident was related by Mrs. D. Bradley, of Lucknow, India. The circumstances occurred in that city:—

A missionary lady was laboring among certain secluded Mohammedan ladies. She was seeking to impress upon their minds the fact that Christ had more power than Mohammed. To do this she read and commented upon the account of the man who was born blind, whom the Saviour healed and forgave his sins. The blind man was thus led to worship the Saviour. See John 9.

She had no thought of conveying to her hearers the idea that the Saviour would restore the blind now, but that he was able to do this, and consequently he alone could forgive sins, and to lean upon other support would prove a broken reed.

Present at the interview was a lady who had lost her sight. She could only discern light from darkness, and had been told by eminent physicians that there was no hope for her, only by a very painful operation, and then it was ten chances to one if she would not lose her sight altogether. Her heart was wrung with anguish at the thought that she would probably never again have her sight. The missionary woman took great interest in the case, and manifested much heart sympathy.

The next time the missionary returned, this woman met her with a happy face, having the assurance of her Saviour's love; her countenance beamed with joy, and her sight had been restored. The following is the substance of the Mohammedan lady's own story:—

“After you left the other day, I thought I would go to your Jesus, and see what he could do for me. I purified a place and made ready so that at the regular season of prayer I told Jesus that the missionary woman had been here, and she had said that he could forgive sins and restore the blind. I told him that that missionary woman said he was in heaven, but that he looked down and saw us pray just the same as though he were upon earth. I then told him that as he was not here personally, I would go and wash, and trust he would heal my eyes.

“I went, and washed, and came seeing—my eyes were perfectly restored. Now,” said the poor woman, whose heart was swelling with gratitude and praise to him who had forgiven her sins, “I shall hereafter believe in your Jesus.”

Are there any who would question the power of God in the conversion of this soul to Jesus Christ? Hundreds of young ladies are wanted to enter these secluded homes in India to-day, protected by the English government, and administer consolation to not only such individuals, but to hundreds of thousands of Hindu widows whose lives are made bitter by servitude and oppression, growing out of the cursed custom of caste. Are there not here open doors? Who is there that reads these lines that will give himself to God for the perishing souls in India?—Selected.