Courage and Faithful Work in a Testing Time
By W. W. P.
Now is the time to pray earnestly and to work faithfully. This is a testing experience. Read the report of the Indiana meeting, as given on another page of this issue, by Brother Hankins, and notice how the question is regarded there. This plan is of no human devising. The Lord saw the situation, and provided just such a plan as would fully meet it in every way. When heartily accepted and followed out, it will bring blessing to those who sell the books, blessing to those who buy them, and blessing to the schools in behalf of which they are sold. It is no time now to be faint-hearted or to yield to any apparent difficulties. The Lord speaks words of hope and courage to His people, as of old. “Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work: for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts.” “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” “There are, in the divine providence, particular periods when we must arise in response to the call of God and make use of our means, our time, our intellect, our whole being, body, soul, and spirit, in fulfilling His requirements. The present is such a time as this. The interests of God’s cause are at stake. The Lord’s institutions are in peril. Because of the terrible burden of debt under which our schools are struggling, the work is hindered on every side. In our great necessity, God has made a way through the difficulty, and has invited us to co-operate with Him in accomplishing His purpose. It was His plan that the book, ‘Christ’s Object Lessons,’ should be given for the relief of our schools, and He calls upon His people to do their part in placing this book before the world. In this He is testing His people and His institutions, to see if they will work together and be of one mind in self-denial and self-sacrifice.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, page 469. W. W. P.