Why He Trusted Him

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Oct 2, 1884

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 37.

Why He Trusted Him.

SOME fifty years ago a gentleman from one of the Southern States was obliged, on a journey, to pass through the then wild region now known as West Virginia. He was an avowed infidel, often saying that Christianity was false, and would ultimately lose its influence and die out. He had been advised to make a certain part of his journey by day, as at night the region spoken of was unsafe. But being delayed, he was on his way through this very region when night overtook him.

Approaching a small cabin, and inquiring where he was, he found, to his dismay, that he was in the very neighborhood he had been warned to avoid; but thinking it as dangerous to go back as forward, he determined to stop where he was. So he entered the hut, in which there was only a woman, and among the rude furniture saw knives that to his eyes looked very large, and guns enough for many assailants.

Before long the cottager himself came in, a rough mountaineer, and in a frank but uncouth manner welcomed the stranger, who quietly took a seat. When supper was ready, they asked him to draw up and eat with them; but as his appetite was spoiled by his anxiety and fear, he declined, saying he was not hungry. After supper and a long silence, as he expressed a desire to rest, the cottager replied:—

"You can lie down wherever you like on the floor there. I am sorry I haven't anything better to offer you. But we always, before we go to sleep, read a chapter in this book," taking down a Bible, "and ask God to take care of us through the night."

The stranger's relief from anxiety and fear was instantaneous. The book which he had often ridiculed and opposed he at once felt was the guarantee of his safety during the silent watches of the night, and he lay down as securely and quietly to his rest as if he had been in his own home, and with a lesson to his conscience and sober judgment that made him a wiser and a better man.—Sel.