At a mission station in Northern India, not many years ago, there was a school for boys. The boys were eager to learn and seemed to be getting along quite well, but one day two of them were missing. They had run away. The missionary thought they had got homesick, for they had started out at once in the direction of home. That meant a journey of several days, and they had to walk all the way.
On the way the boys met up with a native Christian teacher from the mission and also two other men, natives who worshipped idols. When night came on they looked around for a place to sleep. Not far off the road they found a little hut with a straw roof, and there they spread out a big mat on which they all lay down together and went to sleep.
Suddenly, as they slept, out of the jungle dashed a wild elephant and came right up to where they were lying. Seizing the mat he jerked it out from under them, and they all awoke to see the huge elephant standing over them. Just imagine the terror and fright that seized them. They didn’t dare to move.
Now God was watching over that scene in the hut, and a sad, yet most wonderful thing happened. The missionary at the mission station told the story as it actually happened, and we know it is true.
The first thing the elephant did was to shove the Christian teacher and the two boys to one side. Then he seized the heathen men, one after the other, swung them around with his mighty trunk and dashed them to the ground, killing them instantly. What do you think he did to the teacher and the boys? Well, he rolled them together in the mat and walked away. Then he came back again, smelled at them, covered them up again and left, this time for good. The lives of the three were spared, though the fright was terrible. When they got back to the mission station, the teacher was sore and lame for several days, for the elephant hadn’t been very gentle in handling them. But the boys were unhurt, and they learned a lesson for life. They learned that the God of the Christians, who sent His blessed Son into this world to save sinners, had watched over them and protected them.
At the school the missionary called all the children together and told them what had happened, and of how the Lord had delivered the Christian teacher and the boys. Then they sang the hymn, “Now thank we all our God,” and united in praising and thanking the Lord for His merciful protection and salvation.
Dear boys and girls, and older ones too, it is hardly likely you will ever have an encounter with an elephant, but you have a far worse enemy: “Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Pet. 5:88Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1 Peter 5:8). If you know not Christ as your Saviour you are not safe from him who only seeks to ruin and to destroy souls. The sinner’s only refuge is the blood of Jesus. If you trust in Him, you will have nothing to fear, for God has declared that whosoever believeth in Him shall never perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)).
Sometimes God is pleased to allow his children to come into trial and suffering, but He is always with them in it; He allows it for their blessing and for His glory in the end. Their souls can never be lost. He has said, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” Heb. 13:55Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Hebrews 13:5).
ML-05/22/1966