“Many years ago,” says a preacher of the Gospel, “I took a journey every summer into the adjoining suburbs, and went from village to village, and house to house, proclaiming the Gospel of God’s grace.
While on such a journey, I came to a little cottage where I found a middle-aged woman busy ironing, a little boy playing upon the floor, while a girl with a most cheerful countenance, was sitting by the window, plaiting straw. She did not look up when I walked in; and when I had observed her more closely, I saw she was blind.
After a few general remarks had passed between us, I began to tell them the story of the Lord Jesus, His love, His suffer and His death.
They listened with the greatest attention, and tears rolled down the cheeks of the blind girl. All that I told them was quite new to them, because they had never heard of the love of the Lord Jesus, and His finished work of redemption on the cross.
The following days I visited the poor cottagers several times; and Jesus, the Good Shepherd, gave me new cause of thankfulness, that He used me as the instrument to bring the mother, as well as the poor blind daughter, to true peace of heart, through faith in His Name.
Poor, blind Marie! O, haw she was touched when I spoke of Him who opened the eyes of the blind, how blind. Bartaeus sat by the wayside begging, and how he called to Jesus of Nazareth, and received sight!
An irresistible desire to have her eyes opened by the power of His Word, also filled her heart from that moment; ahough it was not merely to see the blue heavens, or the face of her mother, that she desired to have sight; no! it was because she earnestly desired to be able to read the words of Jesus.
There lived in B. at that time a godly man who had gathered a few blind ones around him, whom he taught to read and work. I visited this man, told him of Marie, and arranged with him that she should come for an hour every morning to learn to read. I gave her a Bible, the letters of which were raised, so, that the blind could feel them with their fingers.
She was indeed joyful when she went out the following morning, led by her brother, and with her precious Bible in her hand, to take her first lesson. But, alas! how she was disappointed. Through continual straw-plaiting, her poor fingers had become so hard that she could not feel the letters. What ever way she tried, it did not succeed.
However, one day, when she was busy cutting off the ends of straw, the thought struck her to cut the hard skin off her fingers, so that new soft skin should grow on. And she actually did so, however much pain it caused her. But, alas! This did not help at all. There was not enough feeling in her fingers, and, moreover, she had to go on plaiting straw, because she depended on it for her livlihood.
This was a bitter disappointment for poor Marie! Day after day she wept, saying she would so much like to read the Word of God. At length she said, “God has opened the eyes of my soul; ought not I then to bless and praise Him?”
But what should she do now with her new Bible? She resolved to return it, so that another blind girl who had not such hard fingers as she had, might learn to read out of it, and that in it she might find the words of life. And pressing the precious book to her heart, she fell upon her knees, and prayed,
“O, precious Lord Jesus; Thou who lovest the poor, and openest the eyes of the blind, I thank Thee that Thou hast not hid Thyself from a poor blind girl. And as I cannot read Thy heavenly words, I beseech Thee that Thou wilt whisper them to my heart continually, so that my mind may not be so dark as my eyes. I can hear Thy blessed word; and Thou knowest that I love Thee,”
She then put the opened Bible to her lips to kiss it. And O, what unexpected joy! The tender lips could plainly distinguish the raised letters. With a shout of delight she followed the lines for a whole page. Everything was plain and easy to her the lips could do what the hard fingers could not they could read.
A year later I again visited D. The kitchen was unaltered, but the happy face of Marie shone with a heavenly joy. She was sitting on an old chair reading her dear Bible. It was an affecting scene to see that poor blind girl so rejoiced.
There was, as it were, no more daress to her. Happy girl! How gracious had the Lord been to her! He heard her prayer, and filled her heart with gladness.
O, that all my readers would value the Bible as Marie did. May we say, like King David,
ML 05/18/1941