GOD’S CARE OVER HIS PEOPLE—­THE PRAYING WIDOW

A young widow with two children was living in the city of Berlin.  She was a Christian woman, and trusted in Jehovah-Jireh to take care of her.  One evening she had to be away for a while.  During her absence a man entered her house for the purpose of robbing her.  But “the Lord who provides” protected her from this danger in a very singular way.  On returning to her home she found a note lying on her table, which read as follows: 

“Madam, I came here with the intention of robbing you, but the sight of this little room, with the religious pictures hanging around in it, and those two sweet-looking children quietly sleeping in their little bed, have touched my heart.  I cannot take anything of yours.  The small amount of money lying on your desk I leave untouched, and I take the liberty of adding fifty dollars besides.”  The Bible tells us that “the hearts of men are in the hands of God. and he turneth them as the rivers of waters are turned.”  He turned the heart of this robber from his wicked purpose, and in this way he protected the widow who trusted in him.

GOD SAVED A FAMILY MERCIFULLY.

One morning a Christian farmer, in Rhode Island, put two bushels of rye in his wagon and started to the mill to get it ground.  On his way to the mill he had to drive over a bridge that had no railings to the sides of it.  When he reached the middle of this bridge his horse, a quiet, gentle creature, began all at once to back.  In spite of all the farmer could do, he kept on backing till the hinder wheels went over the side of the bridge, and the bag of grain was tipped out and fell into the stream.  Then the horse stood still.  Some men came to help the farmer.  The wagon was lifted back and the bag of grain was fished up from the water.  Of course it could not be taken to the mill in that state.  So the farmer had to take it home and dry it.  He had prayed that morning that God would protect and help him through the day, and he wondered what this accident had happened for.  He found out, however, before long.  On spreading out the grain to dry he noticed a great many small pieces of glass mixed up with it.  If this had been ground up with the grain into the flour it would have caused the death of himself and his family.  But Jehovah-Jireh was on that bridge.  He made the horse back and throw the grain into the water to save the family from the danger that threatened them.

A CHILD’S FAITH IN THE LORD’S PRAYER.

About the 30th of July, 1864, the beautiful village of Chambersburgh was invaded and pillaged by the Confederate army.  A superintendent of a Sabbath school, formerly resident in the South, but who had been obliged to flee to the North because of his known faithfulness to the national government, was residing there, knowing that if discovered by the Confederate soldiers, he would be in great peril of life, property and every indignity,—­in the gray dawn of that memorable day, with his wife and two little girls, again on foot, he fled to the chain of mountains lying north-west of the doomed village.