Make Others Happy
From a child he had been taught to pray and seek God’s help in every trial. One day when he was about 18 years old, after a long day in the fields, weary and ready to rest, caked with the dirt and dust of the field, the mechanic discovered his wallet was missing. How was he going to do anything without his wallet that had his ID and driver’s license in it? Where could he possibly find that wallet in such a large field as he had just worked on? That is in comparison like a needle in a haystack. Perhaps it even got turned under the soil. So he prayed to the Lord to help him find his wallet. The next day he went back to the same field and continued his work. It is a common occurrence for a disc to get tangled with weeds and roots, so now and then he had to stop and clean the tangled debris out of the blades, so he had done this a few times and continued his rounds. But the next time he had to clean up things, he got off the tractor and right there was his wallet. What a thrill went through him as he realized God had stopped him just in the right spot for him to see his wallet. He gave many thanks to the Lord for His blessings and all these years he has not forgotten that it was the Lord who clogged the blades just at the right time to answer his earnest prayer of faith and trust.
The need for more devoted earnest preachers of righteousness was being impressed upon this mechanic’s mind and he wanted to be a part of proclaiming the last message of warning to a dying world. On entering the college program his major was to learn the Scriptures and preach it with the power from on high with all his heart, he wanted to obey this call of the Spirit to do ‘Thy will O God’. And in accepting this admonition, woe is me if I preach not the gospel, was a great responsibility to be true to God in face of all situations. His tools were to be the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy with ceaseless prayer for the rest of his life.
What kind of vehicle was he to work on for the rest of his life in receiving the call of the Holy Spirit to preach God’s Word to sin-sick souls needing God’s chisel to clean away the dross of evil? This work on the human soul can only be done by the melting power of the truth of the Scriptures by the Holy Spirit imparting His strength to understand and obey. When we cooperate with the Spirit we are working with God in the marvelous work of souls transformed into the likeness of Jesus to be saved and live forever.
Jesus word in the wilderness of temptation, to Satan, who came as an angel of light, said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4. How do we live? Not of our own accord. We would never be here, let alone, be living, if it were not for the Creator God of the universe. Satan would have us think that we came from slime, evolving over millions of years to what we are today because he hates God and wants man to forget about God’s great plan to save man from sin if he will accept Jesus as his Savior.
The skills learned were soon put into practice by visiting the churches in the surrounding towns and cities presenting the Scriptures in word and music everywhere he went. For seven years he kept at his studies to fortify his mind with the living Bread.
In the midst of these years of college the mechanic was staying at his sister’s place for a few days. At this time his sister was assistant dean and one of the cafeteria workers phoned and asked to have someone bring some hand lotion to the cafeteria. For such an uncommon request at a precise time while he was there for a short while had to be the Lord’s guiding him to meet this girl at the cafeteria, for his sister said to him that he should be the one to take the lotion and meet this student. So he did, and he fell in love at first sight. Amazing! He soon asked her for a date. After that the mechanic disappeared and she didn’t see him for a while for he went to help his dad do the work because he was sick. His Dad was more important than school.
He enjoyed this new friendship, so during Christmas break when he was going to take his mother back home to Manitoba, he asked his new friend to go along. It was a very long ways and he got tired and asked his friend to do some driving. Would you know it, she drove right into a snow bank out in the middle of nowhere. Off in the distance there could be seen a light from a farmhouse, so the mechanic went off to find some help to get unstuck. The farmer came to pull them out. It was very far to where dad was waiting for Mothers return to Manitoba, but they finally got there in the morning after a tedious drive through the night. It was a tiny cabin and they sat around the table for some breakfast, so thankful for the warm wood stove. Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home.
They left Mother with Dad and headed back to the college. Some miles down the road they started smelling something burning like rubber. The mechanic had to be sure all was well and he stopped to check to find out what was burning. The floor in the back seat was burning and smelling very strong. He discovered the muffler and tailpipe were too close to the bottom of the car and the heat had caught the floor on fire. The mechanic knew what he had to do to put the fire out and move the pipe. Praise the Lord he had the right tools with him to do the job out on that lonely road. The Lord spared them from the disaster that could happen from a burning car. The Lord is so merciful to his children and the prayers of thankfulness go up continually to Him. His friend never anticipated such adventures on this journey when she decided to go with him, but is was only the start of the many times just like this that they would have together for the next forty years.
The mechanic was getting too serious for this girl who wanted to do some traveling and get an education. Those kangaroos were such interesting creatures, wouldn’t it be fun to see them in their own habitat?
There came a time when his friend took a trip on the bus to see her friend, so the mechanic was asking the Lord to guide him in his choice for a life’s companion, that if this girl was God choice for him, that she would be back at a specified time and not stay as long as she had planned to stay at her friends. Of course, she knew nothing of his earnest prayer for making the right decision. Circumstances developed so that she ended her visit sooner than she wanted. She was back at the school in the specified time that the mechanic asked for. Now he knew the Lord had chosen for him a companion and he did not have to wonder anymore who he should choose for his wife. Some people thought it was a right choice for him and others didn’t think it was a good idea. He sent his girl some flowers. They took some walks together and finally they made the decision to be married that summer.
The mechanic sold his car so he could buy a gift for his honey and brought his miss a beautiful delicate tiny watch for their engagement. A new life was beginning to blossom before him and he had many things to learn about the Christian life. It’s the whole life, it is the forgetting of self and having total surrender to Jesus which means to love your neighbor as yourself, putting Jesus first and then others and self last in total obedience to all God’s Word.
“I saw that the Christian should not set too high a value, or depend too much, upon a happy flight of feeling. These feelings are not always true guides. It should be the study of every Christian to serve God from principle, and not be ruled by feeling. By so doing, faith will be brought into exercise, and will increase. I was shown that if the Christian lives a humble, self-sacrificing life, peace and joy in the Lord will be the result. But the greatest happiness experienced will be in doing others good, in making others happy. Such happiness will be lasting.
Many of the young have not a fixed principle to serve God. They do not exercise faith. They sink under every cloud. They have no power of endurance. They do not grow in grace. They appear to keep the commandments of God. They make now and then a formal prayer and are called Christians. Their parents are so anxious for them that they accept anything which appears favorable, and do not labor with them, and teach them that the carnal mind must die. They encourage them to come along and act a part; but they fail to lead them to search their own hearts diligently, to examine themselves, and to count the cost of what it is to be a Christian. The result is, the young profess to be Christians without sufficiently trying their motives.
Says the True Witness: "I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth." Satan is willing that you should be Christians in name, for you can suit his purpose better. If you have a form and not true godliness, he can use you to decoy others into the same self-deceived way. Some poor souls will look to you, instead of looking to the Bible standard, and will come up no higher. They are as good as you, and are satisfied.”
1T 161,162