AFTER Hiraloll had turned from his dumb idols to serve the living and true God, his faith was often put to the test. He had not now the fat living that he had when he was serving as a priest in the darkness of heathendom. There came for them a time of sore need; they were getting little or nothing to eat, and they were having to beg, night after night, for a place to sleep. This tried the soul. Hiraloll—or Mr. Grant, as we will now call him, for such was the name he took when he became a Christian—had a fear that his wife’s Christianity might not be real, and he thought he would put it to the test. He knew she was suffering from hunger, and now he would see if there was complaint or bitterness in her heart. So he sat down beside her one day, and asked her if she would consent to his going back into the world, and becoming a Brahman, again. In his heart he said, “If she is a good woman, she will never go against me, and want me to go back in the world against my Jesus.” He asked her if he could go for a few weeks, or a few months, to get a few bits to make them comfortable, and then come back to Christianity.
Listen to her noble reply, given under such sore- pressure: “No, Mr. Grant, no, Mr. Grant! will you deny Jesus for the world? That means you will curse God before His face; and. if you should not succeed, what you will do? If debt come in the midst of that, what you will do? You have been giving people tracts, and telling them about the name of Jesus, and in the end you are as Judas.” Such a decided speech as this took away all doubt from the mind of Mr. Grant. He saw that his dear wife had courage and faith notwithstanding the deep trials through which they were passing, and this became a source of strength to him. He saw that her faith, even as his own, was planted on the Rock, Christ Jesus. Together they waited on God, and trusted in Him.
The week after this conversation, a white man came to Mr. Grant and offered him a house to live in. This offer was very gladly accepted, and as the house had “glass windows” they thought they were pretty well fixed. Many of the houses in which poor people live in South America, have only wooden shutters to close the windows, and when these have to be closed to shut out the rain, it makes then dark and dismal. But a house to live in was not all, for Mr. Grant found employment for ten shillings a month, and the day after this opened for him, some man sent to ask him to teach him at eight shillings a month, and soon after this another place for teaching at eight shillings a month opened to him. Thus he was made fairly comfortable, and he rejoiced in seeing the Lord’s good hand toward him.
The Lord may put our faith to the test, but He will not try us more than we are able to bear. And He will cause the trial of our faith to be found “unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” This is very blessed indeed, and should give us courage to endure.
We will try to give you an instance of God’s care over Mr. G. and his wife in our next paper.
ML 11/20/1904