234
Selected Messages Book 2
When my eldest son was sixteen years old, he was stricken down
in sickness. His case was considered critical, and he called us to his
bedside, and said, “Father, Mother, it will be hard for you to part with
your eldest son. If the Lord sees fit to spare my life, for your sake
I will be pleased. If it is for my good and His name’s glory for my
life to close now, I will say, It is well with my soul. Father, go by
yourself, and Mother, go by yourself; and pray. Then you will receive
an answer according to the will of my Saviour, whom you love and I
love.” He was afraid that if we should bow together, our sympathies
would strengthen, and we would ask for that which it would not be
best for the Lord to grant.
We did as he requested, and our prayers were similar in every point
to the prayers you offered. We received no evidence that our son would
recover. He died, putting his full trust in Jesus our Saviour. His death
was a great blow to us, but it was a victory even in death; for his life
was hid with Christ in God.
Before the death of my eldest boy, my babe was sick unto death.
We prayed, and thought that the Lord would spare us our darling; but
we closed his eyes in death, and laid him away to rest in Jesus, until the
Life-giver shall come to awaken His precious loved ones to a glorious
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immortality.
Then my husband, the faithful servant of Jesus Christ, who had
stood by my side for thirty-six years, was taken from me, and I was
left to labor alone. He sleeps in Jesus. I have no tears to shed over his
grave. But how I miss him! How I long for his words of counsel and
wisdom! How I long to hear his prayers blending with my prayers for
light and guidance, for wisdom to know how to plan and lay out the
work!
But the Lord has been my Counselor, and the Lord will give you
grace to bear your bereavement.
You inquire in regard to your little one’s being saved. Christ’s
words are your answer: “Suffer little children to come unto Me, and
forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God” (
Luke 18:16
).
Remember the prophecy, “Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard
in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her
children refused to be comforted.... Thus saith the Lord; Refrain thy
voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be
rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of