TALK FORTY-FOUR. SELF-MADE BARRIERS

It seems strange that anyone should build barriers in his own way and lay hindrances in his own path. But that is just what many people are doing.

They wish to accomplish something; they desire to do something for the Lord; but some way they find themselves always hindered. They look back upon their lives, and see that they have done very little. How many times they have desired to be as useful as others! But someway, somehow, they were not.

The greatest hindrances to our success are often found within ourselves.

We build up walls between ourselves and usefulness, and then lament because we can not surmount them. We look over the wall and long to be there, while all the time we are placing new stones upon the wall and building it higher and higher.

One of the greatest of these barriers is "I can't." How many people have built up this wall before themselves! They see work to be done, they see plenty of opportunities for doing effective service, but they distrust their ability. Or sometimes they are not willing to do their duty, and they begin at once to build a barrier of "I can't" between themselves and their opportunity. Oh yes, it ought to be done, and they would like to do it, but there is that wall in the way. They would gladly do the work if they were over the wall, but it is too high, so the work must remain undone. This barrier is very easy to build, but hard to surmount. The reason it is hard to surmount is because the person is not willing to try.

No one knows what he can do until he tries. "I can't" shuts out G.o.d's help completely. It leaves no room for the operation of faith; it increases weakness. The more you say, "I can't," the weaker you will feel; and the weaker you feel, the less courage you will have to attempt anything. It is certain that we can not do anything if we do not try. It is certain that we can succeed in doing whatever G.o.d wants us to do. He has said, "My grace is sufficient"; has he spoken truly? He says, "I will help thee"; does he mean it? If he does, you will not fail if you do your part. The trouble is, you do not give him a chance to help. When the opportunity comes and the Spirit moves you to act, you draw back behind the wall of "I can't," and do nothing. Have you not had many chastis.e.m.e.nts because of doing thus? Have you not missed many blessings? has not work gone undone, and have not opportunities remained unused?

Paul had no place for this barrier in his life. He was a man who did things. He believed that G.o.d would help him in all he undertook. "I can't"

had no place in his life. He said, "I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me." What you need is to quit saying, "I can't," and begin believing G.o.d. Throw down this self-made barrier; quit looking at your weakness; look at G.o.d's strength. Dare to do, dare to act, and you will succeed beyond your expectations.

"I am afraid" is almost as common a barrier as "I can't." How many people shrink from duty, saying: "I am afraid I will make a mistake. I am afraid I shall not do it right." They let this fear become a great wall before them; they pile fear upon fear; and as they look at them, their fears constantly grow greater. Soon they come to a place where these fears hedge them in till they dare not attempt anything. Do you remember the man who said, "I was afraid," and went and hid his lord's talent in the earth?

Read his story in Matt. 25: 24-30. See what his lord said to him, and note the result of his conduct. Are you doing the same thing? If so, what will be the result in your case? Fear will tie your hands if you allow it; it will make you a profitless servant.

"I don't know how" is a third barrier. Have you hidden from duty behind this wall? Is this your answer to G.o.d when he tells you to do something?

The Bible says that "Christ is made unto us wisdom." Again, it says, "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of G.o.d." If G.o.d gives you a task to perform, he will give you the wisdom to do it as he wishes to have it done. Possibly you do not know how, but G.o.d knows, and if you try, understanding will be given you. If you seek wisdom from him, he will not fail to give it. If we always knew how to do things, we should not need G.o.d's help to show us; but as it is, we must often dare to undertake what he wants us to do in his wisdom and in his strength, no matter whether we can see the outcome or not. G.o.d wants us to rely on him, and to go ahead in his strength.

"I am not sure" is another barrier. It is well to know G.o.d's will definitely, but many times people want to be so very sure that G.o.d has no way of making them feel sure. They do not take the a.s.surance that he gives; they want something more. Reason and good judgment tell them to go ahead, but they build up the barrier "I am not sure," and hide from duty behind it. We ought not to decide hastily or rashly, but we ought to decide, and then act upon our decision. One may cultivate the habit of indecision until his usefulness is greatly hindered, and he is constantly tortured wondering what he ought to do. It would be better to make a few mistakes than to let indecision hold us back from everything.

"They will think" is still another self-made barrier. The fear of being misunderstood or having remarks made about them is some people's greatest hindrance. "They will think I want to push myself ahead"; "They will think some one else ought to do it"; they will think this, or they will think that, and so fear of what people will say closes the mouth and ties the hands, rendering life fruitless. The thing that ought to concern us is, "What will G.o.d think if we do not do it?" It is to him we must give account. It is his approval we should seek. If he approves, what others think is a small matter. Are we not willing to be misunderstood for Jesus'

sake?

Let us cease to build these barriers before us. Let us throw down what we have built. Let us decide we will not be held back from duty by our fears.

Let us go forward in the strength that G.o.d will give. Let us trust more in G.o.d, and be confident that he will not fail us. Have you not read that the "man of G.o.d" was to be thoroughly furnished unto every good work? If you would pay more heed to getting your furnishings than you do to your fears, you might become far more fruitful. Thus, you would be more happy here and reap a greater reward hereafter.

TALK FORTY-FIVE. HOW TO WORK G.o.d'S JOY-MACHINE

It was a bright, sunny morning as Brother Littlejoy walked down the street toward the railway-station. But somehow the brightness of the morning was not reflected in Brother Littlejoy's face. He seemed gloomy; his gaze rested upon the ground. As he entered the waiting-room, he saw a man with a smiling countenance, and he said to himself, "Why, there is Brother Joyful."

Brother Joyful, seeing Brother Littlejoy, hastened to him and shook hands with him warmly and said: "Good morning, Brother Littlejoy. What a fine morning this is! It seems that all nature is rejoicing in the spring sunshine. But, Brother Littlejoy, why do you look so gloomy this morning when everything else seems so bright?"

"Oh," said Brother Littlejoy, "I have so many troubles and worries and perplexities, so many trials and difficulties, that it seems I have little joy in my life. I never can understand how you are always so joyful. You always have a smile for everybody and never seem to have any of the worries and troubles that other people have. You seem to be, as Paul said, 'always rejoicing.' How I wish I were as you are! It certainly must be a happy life."

"Oh," replied Brother Joyful, "I think I have my full share of the troubles of life. You know every one must expect them. We all have plenty of them, but that is not the cause of your trouble. It is not the number of trials and perplexities people have that keep them from being joyful; for some of the most joyful people whom I know have many cares, sorrows, and troubles. There is just one thing wrong in your case, Brother Littlejoy-you have not learned how to work G.o.d's joy-machine."

"G.o.d's joy-machine!" exclaimed Brother Littlejoy, "why, I did not even know that he had one. What do you mean by his 'joy-machine'?"

Brother Joyful laughed, and his eyes twinkled as he said, "Come over here and let me give you an object-lesson."

So they walked over to the side of the room where two machines were standing side by side.

"You see this weighing-machine," said Brother Joyful; "I will just step upon it and get weighed."

He stepped upon the platform of the machine, but the indicator remained at zero.

"Why, it seems it does not work this morning!"

"Of course not," answered Brother Littlejoy, "you have to drop a penny in the slot before it will act."

Then Brother Joyful took a penny from his pocket and dropped it into the slot. The indicator immediately flew around on the dial.

"One hundred and seventy-two pounds," said Brother Joyful. "That is just what I weighed two weeks ago. Now let us try this one, and have some music."

So saying, he took a disk from the rack and adjusted it in the machine and pressed the lever, but nothing moved; no music came forth.

"Why," said Brother Littlejoy, "it will not play until you drop a nickel into the slot."

"Oh," said Brother Joyful, "that's the way!"

He dropped a nickel into the slot, and the machine began sounding forth its melody.

Sitting down on a seat near by, they listened until the music ceased, when Brother Joyful said:

"You see I might have stood there on the platform of that weighing-machine all day and wished to have known my weight ever so much, but I should not have found it out until I had dropped a penny into the slot. We might have stood there by the music-box all day and wished to hear it play; we might have asked it ever so earnestly to play for us; but until the nickel was dropped into the slot, there could be no music. Now, G.o.d has a joy-machine, and it works on the plan of the slot-machines. You can see its picture almost anywhere in the Bible. But there is a real place where you can get the joy-real joy and there is plenty of it. This music-box will play a tune for each nickel dropped into it, and so G.o.d's joy-machine will yield you a heartful of joyfulness every time you can get it to work, and it always works whenever you proceed right. Some people merely stand around and look at the box. They see others getting joy out of it and often try to get joy, but somehow it does not work for them. The trouble is, they do not put in the coin; in other words, they do not do what is necessary to get the machine to work. The joy is there, plenty of it, enough for everybody; there is no reason why people should be without it."

"Well," sighed Brother Littlejoy, "I would give almost anything if I knew how to get joy like you; but I suppose it is not for me."

"Right there is where you are mistaken," said Brother Joyful. "Take another lesson from those machines yonder. They are set out in plain sight, and the public, everybody who wishes, may, by dropping coins into the slots, get what the machines have to give. The more coins dropped, the better the owners are pleased. They do not want the weights, they do not want the music; these are provided for the public; and whosoever will may have his full satisfaction on certain conditions. Now, G.o.d's joy for his children is just the same-the more they have of it, the better pleased he is. The more joyful they are, the more joyful he is. You are mistaken in thinking that you are denied joy. You are not denied it any more than you are denied music from the music-box. If you know how to operate the box and are willing to pay the price, you may have plenty of music. It is equally true that if you are willing to pay the price, you can work G.o.d's joy-machine all you please."

"Well," said Brother Littlejoy, "I do wish I knew how. And what do you mean by the price of joy?"

"It is something many people have not learned yet," answered Brother Joyful; "but I will tell you the secret. I will tell you how I get G.o.d's joy-machine to operate. A specified coin is required to operate these machines, but there are many different things that will work G.o.d's machine. Sometimes one thing will do it, sometimes another, and sometimes it takes several things together. The first thing I try is obedience.

Whole-hearted obedience to the Lord never fails to bring me a good supply of joy, but that is a price many people are not willing to pay. They would like to have the joy, but when it comes to obeying G.o.d and throwing their whole soul into that obedience, they draw back. Often they obey reluctantly, with more or less unwillingness in their hearts, or they want to do it just a little differently from G.o.d's way. That kind of obedience never makes the joy-machine work. There are others who are willing to obey G.o.d, provided he will do so-and-so to suit them. Such people wait a long time for their joy. So long as the heart is closed up against G.o.d's commands, you can count on G.o.d keeping a lock on the joy-machine.

"Sometimes, and very often too, we have to drop some trust into the slot.

If you are doubting G.o.d and questioning whether he means what he says or whether he will keep his promises, the machine will not work. When I want a feast of joy, I make sure that I am obeying G.o.d, and then I tell him that I believe him, that I trust myself and my all completely into his hands, and that I feel perfectly safe in doing so; that I believe his eye is over me and his everlasting arms are beneath me and that he will work out everything for my good and keep me in whatever circ.u.mstances I am placed. That makes the joy-machine work. Often it brings 'joy unspeakable and full of glory.'

"Of course, there is something else that goes with obedience and trust, and that is really a part of them. It is submission. Unless our hearts say, 'Thy will be done,' the joy-bells will not ring much. If we get any joy, it will be only a sort of human enthusiasm. I say the heart must say this. It is not enough for the mouth to say it; the heart must not say it reluctantly nor hesitatingly, for the joy will not come until the heart submits unreservedly.

"Praise is another thing that makes the machine work; that is, the kind of praise that comes from the depths of the heart-the kind that comes spontaneously from a deep appreciation of G.o.d's goodness and mercy. Only those who obey G.o.d have this kind. We may shout G.o.d's praise loud enough to be heard two blocks away; but if we are not obeying him, he knows it is a pretense, and it will not work the machine. One may be ever so enthusiastic, and seem to be very happy, but if he is not obeying G.o.d, what he gets does not come out of G.o.d's joy-machine. Praise amounts to much when there is obedience back of it, but is nothing but noise when it is otherwise.

"Sometimes it is patience and long-suffering that make the machine work.

Sometimes when opposition or accusation come or when railing, abuse, scorn, or similar things must be borne, the joy-machine does not work immediately. We have to put a good supply of patience into the slot, and perhaps suffer a while; but when the proper time comes, they will make the machine work all right.

"A smile or a cheery word or a bit of song, a kindly greeting, or almost any kindly act put into the slot may fill up our cup with joy when we are not expecting it. Sometimes nothing but enduring a hard trial will start the joy flowing. One may not be very joyful during the trial; for the joy generally comes at the end of the trial. Some people think that it would be pleasant if they could put their trials into the slot and make the joy-machine work, but it does not work that way. It is the endurance that makes it work, and the endurance will not make it work until it is dropped into the slot; that is, until we have endured through to the end of the trial.

"Then, I find things in my pocket-book, too, that I can drop into the slot to make the machine work. Money in the pocket-book will not make G.o.d's joy-machine work any more than it will make yonder machine play music.

When people look into their pocket-books and see only money, the only joy it can make is a sort of selfish, human joy. I know of people who can see something besides money in their pocket-books. Why, just the other day Brother Sympathy looked into his pocket-book and saw a sack of flour there for the Widow Grimes. And last fall one day he looked into it and saw a whole ton of coal for old Mrs. Benson and an overcoat for Tom Jones, and a little later he found a pair of shoes for Johnnie Peters. Of course, he took them all out and delivered them to their owners. I suppose you wonder why his face shone so in meeting. It was because these things, and many more like them, kept G.o.d's joy-machine going.

"Now, Brother Littlejoy, I have told you a few of the things that will make the machine work when put into the slot, and I am sure that if you will use them, your joy-cup will not be empty much of the time."