Chapter 26—Help and Encouragement for Widows
The Claims of Widows and Orphans—Among all whose needs
demand our interest, the widow and the fatherless have the strongest
claims upon our tender sympathy and care. “Pure religion and un-
defiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and
widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the
world.”
The father who has died in the faith, resting upon the eternal
promise of God, left his loved ones in full trust that the Lord would
care for them. And how does the Lord provide for these bereaved
ones? He does not work a miracle in sending manna from heaven; He
does not send ravens to bring them food; but He works a miracle upon
human hearts. He expels selfishness from the soul; He unseals the
fountain of benevolence. He tests the love of His professed followers
by committing to their tender mercies the afflicted and bereaved ones,
the poor and the orphan. These are in a special sense the little ones
whom Christ looks upon, whom it is an offense to Him to neglect.
Those who do neglect them are neglecting Christ in the person of His
afflicted ones. Every kind act done to them in the name of Jesus is
accepted by Him as if done to Himself, for He identifies His interest
with that of suffering humanity, and He has entrusted to His church the
grand work of ministering to Jesus by helping and blessing the needy
and suffering. On all who shall minister to them with willing hearts
the blessing of the Lord will rest.—
The Review and Herald, June 27,
1893
.
[215]
Give Tangible Help; Lighten Widow’s Burdens—Many a wid-
owed mother with her fatherless children is bravely striving to bear
her double burden, often toiling far beyond her strength in order to
keep her little ones with her and to provide for their needs. Little
time has she for their training and instruction, little opportunity to
surround them with influences that would brighten their lives. She
needs encouragement, sympathy, and tangible help.
154