Chapter VII

“He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

It was with feelings of deep joy and thankfulness that Susan Morley heard of the events related in the last chapter. Writing back to Daisy, who had sent her the glad news, she said:

“DEAR DAISY,

“We were all glad to have your last letter, and Lizzie’s, and to find
that you are both so much better. I need not say how thankful we all
were, and especially poor Polly, at hearing the particulars of her
father’s happy death. Though she could not help at first sorrowing
that she will never see him on earth, she feels it is indeed far
better to know that he is safe in heaven, and to have the blessed
hope of meeting him there. How wonderful it was that it should have
been brought about in that way, and through his reading Charlie
Green’s Bible--the Bible, Daisy, you and I asked might be made the
means of guiding some one else’s feet, beside his own, into the
way of peace! How thankful I am, too, that one of the dear ragged
boys, and especially Charlie, whom I have thought of so constantly,
and have often felt so anxious about, should have been made such a
blessing, and enabled to witness for Jesus in life, and to testify in
death that he feared no evil because He was with him!

“I am sure you will be glad to hear that Mrs. Grey, dear little
Bessie’s stepmother, is beginning to read in earnest the little
Bible Bessie loved so dearly, and we must pray that she too may
receive the kingdom of God as a little child. She brought the twins
last week, and asked to be allowed to send them to the school where
Bessie learned the way to heaven; and the neighbours say that she
is wonderfully changed, and so much more gentle than she used to be.
She comes regularly to the mothers’ meeting, and has been at church
every Sunday evening for the last two months. She often says she is
cut to the heart when she thinks of poor little Bessie’s gentle ways,
and how hard she used to be to her. But I tell her not to grieve
too much, for ‘the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin;’
and little Bessie is where the angels rejoice over one sinner that
repenteth, and where the broken and contrite heart is not despised. I
think God is giving her this broken heart, and perhaps little Bessie
is now, with those other bright spirits, rejoicing over her.

“The dear little school is prospering; Jane Hardy is a great help,
and, next to Polly, the best monitress we have. They often go to read
to Mrs. Grey, and she takes kindly to them for the love they bore
to little Bessie. It is cheering to see how many dear children are
gathering in; and everything, and especially the tokens for good God
has given us lately so strikingly, seems to bid us ‘not to be weary
in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.’

“In _due_ season, Daisy; that must mean in God’s own time--sooner or
later--here or there; and we in the meantime must pray and hope, and
patiently wait, while we work on, till God shall call us to His own
rest; and then, if not before the due time, the day of harvest will
come, when He says, ‘they who sow and they who reap shall rejoice
together.’

“Your affectionate sister,
“SUSAN MORLEY.”

Dear, patient workers for Jesus in lowly vineyards such as this, faint not, neither be weary. Look up for the grace that is sufficient for all difficulties and all discouragements, and look on by faith to the day when you shall see what God asks you now perhaps to take on trust, that “your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

In that day you shall find how the long years of ploughing were not lost, but were most surely preparing the way for the precious seed; how every grain you once scattered for Him, watered by your prayers, and perhaps by your tears, has been guarded and watched over by your Lord, and turned into golden sheaves, to be laid down by you in the day of harvest at His feet, saying, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name be the glory.”

LONDON: KNIGHT, PRINTER, MIDDLE STREET, E.C.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:

Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.

Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.

Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.