William was an excellent traveler as you have seen, but one night God had a special lesson to teach him. On this trip he walked with a friend named Thomas, and on the first evening they lost their way. Rain came down and the night brought darkness and cold. They wandered not knowing where they were until they were thoroughly worn out, and they finally sat down in the wet road, giving up all hope of finding the right path. It was nothing new for Farel to spend the night outdoors. But on this dark and wet night God taught him something that he especially needed to know in order to do the great work that God had given him. Listen carefully, for it would be good for you and me to learn this lesson too.
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“You know yourselves,” wrote William later, “that I am not quite such a fool as to be unable to tell one road from another, nor am I so slow and lazy as to be incapable of following an active man, but the Lord, by showing me how powerless I am even in little things, wished to teach me my utter helplessness in great things, how I am to rest, not on myself, but on Christ.”
Yes, it seems that William had learned not to trust in the religions of his youth or even in dear Master Faber and other great Christian teachers, but there was one man in whom he still had confidence. That man was William Farel himself. The cold night in the rain and mud was a message from God and he understood it well.
The two friends prayed together and started again. Before the trip was over they slipped in the mud, waded in water, wandered in the forest and were lost again. Wet to the skin and covered with mud, they finally reached the city, but the lesson Farel learned was never forgotten. He could thank God for the rest of his life for the cold and rain and darkness that had taught him those simple words of the Lord Jesus, “Without Me ye can do nothing.” May you and I learn from William and from the Word of God so that we will not have to learn it from the rain, the darkness, and other hard ways!