The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1915, Page 82

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82 ; The Lutheran: Pioneer.

block east of Woodward Avenue, on Jefferson’ Street,
but the young man’s directions seemed to tell me
to go west. Yet, though the gentleman was a
stranger to me, though I-had no proof as to his
veracity, I followed his directions. And it was
a good thing that I did so, for in doing as he told
me I arrived at the depot just in time to catch my

_ ear for Toledo.

Now, why am I relating this to you? — When
safely seated in the car, I thought over my recent
experience, and then these questions came to my
mind: Why did I so implicitly follow the direc-
tions of this strange young man, though they seemed
altogether wrong, and why are we so distrustful of
God’s directions when He points out a way to us
which is not according to our way of thinking?
I had no proof of this young man’s honesty and
good will, and yet I cast my own impressions to
the wind, and followed him unhesitatingly. How
much more cause have we to cast our reason and
experience to the winds, and hush our doubts when
God directs us! He has proved His honesty and
love to us a thousand times. From the day of our
birth to the present time we have had proofs of
His love and grace. Though all men may be dis-
honest; God is faithful and true. His dealings
with us. have always been upright. And yet, how
distrustful we often are of Him! How often we
hesitate to walk in the path He points out to us!
Surely, we are a perverse people! Past experience
has shown us that by trusting in Him we are always
safe, that He is always reliable; and yet we are
ever insulting Him by our doubts and distrust.
He has declared that He will never leave us -nor
forsake us, and yet at the least sign of danger and
trouble .we find ourselves discouraged. He has
always bountifully provided for us in the past,
and yet we are always worried about the future.
He has led us to many joys from the days of our
childhood till now, and yet we often find ourselves
fretting. His dealings with us in the past are
such that we must know that He always provides
us with what is best for us, and yet we are ever
wanting to dictate to Him how He should deal
with us. How few of us can truthfully say to our
faithful God: —

; In Thee I place my trust,
On Thee I calmly rest;
I know Thee good, I know Thee just,”
And count Thy choice the best.

Is it not about’ time that we cease insulting
Him with our lack of confidence? Is it not about

,

time that we cast away forever our doubts in Him,
and follow Him with trusting and confiding hearts?
O yes, do let us trust our God, even though He
should lead us upon steep and rugged paths, even
though cares like a wild deluge come, and storms
of sorrow fall; let us trust Him for all, in life
and in death, for our temporal needs and our
spiritual wants, in health and in sickness, in pros-
perity and in adversity; let us trust Him for par-
don, for cleansing, for guidance, and for salvation.
Let us say with the poet:

I am trusting Thee, Lord Jesus,
Never let me fall;
I am trusting Thee forever
And for all.
F. J. i.

The Storm at New Orleans and Our
Mission.

Our readers, we are sure, have all read of the
terrific storm that visited New Orleans on Wednes-
day, September 29. For twenty-four hours, from _
midnight on Tuesday till midnight on Wednesday,
the furious gale swept over the city without abate-
ment. At.times the wind reached the almost in-
credible velocity of 120 miles per hour, and-during
twelve hours it rushed and roared at the tremendous
rate of 60 to 90 miles per hour. Fortunately, the
loss of life was comparatively small; but the
property loss is tremendous, conservative estimates
placing it at no less than $2,000,000. Some of
the largest buildings in the city crumbled to picces
as though they had been built of pasteboard. On
the morning after the storm the streets and homes
of the city presented a sad spectacle indeed. In-
numerable buildings were unroofed, side and rear
walls were pressed in, windows smashed, and doors
unhinged. Hundreds of telephone and light poles
were dangerously suspended across the streets, thou-
sands of trees had been uprooted, and fences lay flat
on the ground. For days after, the homes were
without electric light, and. all telephone connection
was.cut off. The street-car traffic, so important
in a large city, was confined to a few cars running
at irregular intervals.

The severest sufferers of all seem to have been
the churches and schools. Probably not one church
or school escaped damage. Everything considered,
however, our Colored Mission properties were won-
derfully preserved from serious damage. While all
the churches in the vicinity of our St. Paul’s Mis-