I was walking along, speaking to a friend of God’s simple way of salvation through faith in the finished work of Christ.
We took a circuitous round, and presently found ourselves at the Station. Seeing that my friend’s difficulty lay in the lack of simple faith in the Word of God, I turned, and, observing a little girl a few yards away selling matches, I said, pointing to her,
“O, if you had but the faith of a little child.” This attracted the notice of the little girl, who, running up to me, said,
“Matches, sir!”
“No, my dear,” I replied. “I do not need any.”
But the more I argued, the more she pressed use to buy just one box.
“What do you do all day, and when do you go home? “I inquired, for I felt an increasing interest in her, and it was then past eight o’clock.
“O, I go to school in the day, but as mother’s ill, I come here afterward to earn cents home,”
“How much have you now?”
Fumbling in her tiny pocket she brought out the sum of six cents in coppers.
“Why,” I said. “you have been here four hours and only earned six cents: you will never get the twelve cents tonight.”
“O, yes: I shall earn the twelve cents—I always do,” she said quickly.
“But tonight you cannot earn it, it is so late.”
“But I’m sure I shall, though,” she replied.
“What makes you so sure, my child.”
For some moments she made no reply, but upon being pressed, looked up into my face and said,
“Because before I come out, mother and me always ask our Father to help me earn twelve cents, and He always does.”
I was struck with the answer, being wholly unprepared for such a beautiful exhibition of simple faith in one so young.
“What would you do if I gave you six cents?”
“Why, I would run home sharp to mother, now.” And so she did, poor little thing, and left me wondering at her true confidence in God’s ability to hear prayer and send direct answers. Surely our Father in Heaven was rejoiced by the simple trust in Himself displayed by this little child.
“Without faith it is impossible to please Heft 11:6.
ML 04/12/1936