“For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord.”

A MOTHER’S FAITH—­THE LIFE OF BEATE PAULUS.

In a sketch of the life of Beate Paulus, the wife of a German minister who lived on the borders of the Black Forest, are several incidents which illustrate the power of living faith, and the providence of a prayer-hearing God.

Though destitute of wealth, she much desired to educate her children, and five of her six boys were placed in school, while she struggled, and prayed, and toiled,—­not only in the house, but out of doors,—­to provide for their necessities.

“On one occasion,” writes one of her children, “shortly before harvest, the fields stood thick with corn, and our mother had already calculated that their produce would suffice to meet all claims for the year.  She was standing at the window casting the matter over in her mind, with great satisfaction, when her attention was suddenly caught by some heavy, black clouds with white borders, drifting at a great rate across the Summer sky.  ‘It is a hail-storm!’ she exclaimed in dismay, and quickly throwing up the window, she leaned out.  Her eyes rested upon a frightful mass of wild storm-clouds, covering the western horizon, and approaching with rapid fury.

“‘O God!’ she cried, ’there comes an awful tempest, and what is to become of my corn?’ The black masses rolled nearer and nearer, while the ominous rushing movement that precedes a storm, began to rock the sultry air, and the dreaded hail-stones fell with violence.  Half beside herself with anxiety about those fields lying at the eastern end of the valley, she now lifted her hands heavenward, and wringing them in terror, cried:  ’Dear Father in heaven, what art thou doing?  Thou knowest I cannot manage to pay for my boys at school, without the produce of those fields!  Oh! turn Thy hand, and do not let the hail blast my hopes!’ Scarcely, however, had these words crossed her lips when she started, for it seemed to her as if a voice had whispered in her ear,’ Is my arm shortened that it cannot help thee in other ways?’ Abashed, she shrank into a quiet corner, and there entreated God to forgive her want of faith.  In the meantime the storm passed.  And now various neighbors hurried in, proclaiming that the whole valley lay thickly covered with hail-stones, down to the very edge of the parsonage fields, but the latter had been quite spared.  The storm had reached their border, and then suddenly taking another direction into the next valley.  Moreover, that the whole village was in amazement, declaring that God had wrought a miracle for the sake of our mother, whom he loved.  She listened, silently adoring the goodness of the Lord, and vowing that henceforth her confidence should be only in Him.”

At another time she found herself unable to pay the expenses of the children’s schooling, and the repeated demands for money were rendered more grievous by the reproaches of her husband, who charged her with attempting impossibilities, and told her that her self-will would involve them in disgrace.  She, however, professed her unwavering confidence that the Lord would soon interpose for their relief, while his answer was:  “We shall see; time will show.”