August 17

"I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me" (Acts 27:25).

I went to America some years ago with the captain of a steamer, who was a very devoted¹ Christian². When off the coast of Newfoundland he said to me, "The last time I crossed here, five weeks ago, something happened which revolutionized the whole of my Christian life. We had George Mueller of Bristol on board. I had been on the bridge twenty-four hours and never left it. George Mueller came to me, and said, "Captain I have come to tell you that I must be in Quebec Saturday afternoon." "It is impossible," I said. "Very well, if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way. I have never broken an engagement for fifty-seven years. Let us go down into the chart-room and pray."

I looked at that man of God, and thought to myself, what lunatic asylum³ can that man have come from? I never heard of such a thing as this. "Mr. Mueller," I said, "do you know how dense⁴ this fog is?" "No," he replied, "my eye is not on the density⁵ of the fog, but on the living God, who controls every circumstance of my life."

He knelt down and prayed one of the most simple prayers, and when he had finished I was going to pray; but he put his hand on my shoulder, and told me not to pray. “First, you do not believe He will answer; and second I BELIEVE HE HAS, and there is no need whatever for you to pray about it.”

I looked at him, and he said, "Captain, I have known my Lord for fifty-seven years, and there has never been a single day that I have failed to get audience with the King. Get up, Captain and open the door, and you will find the fog gone." I got up, and the fog was indeed gone. On Saturday afternoon, George Mueller was in Quebec for his engagement.—Selected

“If our love were but more simple,

We should take Him at His word;

And our lives would be all sunshine,

In the sweetness of our Lord.”　

八月十七日

「我信神祂怎对我说，事情也要怎样成就。」（徒廿七25）

几年前我乘船到美国去。这船上的船主，是一个很热心的基督徒。当船离开纽方兰海岸的时候，他对我叙述下面一段故事：「上一次我经过此地，是在五星期前，船上发生了一件事，这件事情是我灵程上的一个大革新。在我们的乘客当中，有一位别斯脱城的穆勒先生，那时因为雾大，轮船已经停顿了二十四小时。穆勒来对我说：『船主我来告诉你：星期六下午我是一定要到桂拜城的。』我说：『这是做不到的事。』他说：『很好，如果你的船不能叫我按时到达，神有别的方法的。五十七年以来，我从来没有对人失过约，让我们下去祷告。』

「我呆望着这位神的人，心中想：这个人不知道从那一家疯人院里出来的？我从来没有听见过这样的话。我就对他说：『穆勒先生，你知不知道雾有多么厚？』祂答道：『不，我的眼睛并不看雾的厚薄，我的眼睛只看见活的神，祂是管理我一生的环境的。』

「他跪下来作了一个很简单的祷告，当他做完了，我正想接下去做的时候，他放他的手在我的肩背上，叫我不要做了。他说：『第一，你不相信神会答应你；第二，我相信神已经答应了，用不着你再求了。』

「我呆呆地望着他，他对我说：『船主，我已经认识我的主五十七年了；在这五十七年中，神从来没有一次不听我过。起来，船主把门打开，你要看见雾已经全消了。』我立起身来，雾果然已经全消了。星期六下午，穆勒如约到了桂拜城。」－－选

1 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

4 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

5 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。