Affairs in a Snarl—the Remedy
By E. L. Paulding
I HAD a strong sense of duty recently, which I tried to evade, and which I did evade until darkness settled down upon me so that I did not know duty from anything else. I said of this duty, “I don’t see how I can. I will try to do it next year.” I thought that I could not afford it financially. I knew that it might cause some family friction; for my wife was not in the truth. There were other reasons that came into my mind. It was the Lord’s will that that duty should be performed, so, like Job, I was turned over to the enemy. Things got into an ugly snarl, I found myself overdrawn at the bank, and several bills unpaid that ought to have been met. Business became unprofitable. The most untoward things happened, to entangle me worse and worse financially. My vehicles broke down, my horse took sick. What little money come in was lost on a trip down town. My temper grew unbearable, and try as I would, I could not make myself do better. My wife reproached me for my evil temper, but all I could say was, “I know it, I am just an ugly brute, and I wish I could help it.” I grew tired of the sound of my own voice, it had become so harsh and unbearable. My boy, a foster child, grew ugly and stubborn, and seemed to defy authority. He went about sullenly, and he unwillingly performed the little tasks that he had done before most cheerfully. I scolded him and punished him. He ran away, but was brought back by the neighbor at whose place he had thought to find a surcease of sorrow and of the evil influences that beset him at home. In my heart I felt more of sympathy for him than of anger; for I knew that it was not his fault so much as it was mine. The climax of my troubles came when I fell one night, catching my knee in a gate in such a way as to nearly break the bone above the knee. It was a hard wrench, and the limb hurt me so severely that I got very little sleep or rest day or night, and was well nigh helpless. The trouble in the knee grew worse and worse as the days went by. When I grew so helpless, I had time to reflect, and a disposition to pray and to inquire of the Lord for the cause of my troubles. This was soon revealed to me, and I remembered that I had promised the Lord that if a certain line of business prospered, I would send the boy to a church-school. I had given him a half interest in the business, with the understanding that he was to save its profits for his future education. The business had prospered, and the boy had saved quite a little sum of money, which he had deposited in the bank. When I asked the boy if he would like to take the money and go to Fernando College, he was only too glad to go. I thought that the sum he had saved would give him a start, and the business, which bids fair to give an early profit again, would maintain him for the rest of the school year. When it came to laying my plan before my wife, there was very little opposition. She took no little trouble in fitting him out for the trip, and he got off in time for the opening of the school. Now, I want to tell you what all this has done for me. My leg got rapidly well, my temper—well I have no temper. My voice grew soft, and I love to hear its tones again. My boy grew angelic. I wrote to Brother Owen, asking him if he could take a bad boy. He answered that he would. I wrote to him again, saying that I had expected to send him a bad boy, but strange to relate, I was about to send him a good one. Financially, things are improving, and like the house of Obed-edom, God’s blessing is upon my house. Dear brother, are your affairs in a tangle? It may be that God wants your boy in a church-school. Anyway, inquire diligently, and he will show you duty. “O, there’s music every day, heavenly music all the way,” for those who obey duty.