Page 51 - Living Epistles

God was asking His servant to take the same stand for the rest of His life. On
that bridge he raised his hand and made a solemn vow, adding, “I do believe
You are able to keep me better than that mining company.”

It was no mean (small) stand of faith, because Mr. Howells had long since
ceased that active ministry in the mission and among fellow Christians which
might have led people to give to him...

The Lord then gave him a month’s holiday, which he could spend in
worshiping the Beloved of his heart. Each day was spent on the mountain
where he never saw the face of man. They were not days of intercession or
carrying burdens, but of living fellowship, lost in the presence of God. He
often spoke of that month as one of the most precious of his life.

He started the month with one penny, and the Lord did not add anything to
it; so as he climbed the mountain the first few days, the devil kept saying each
morning, “You haven’t had an answer to prayer yet.” Then one morning, when
he was passing through the iron gate, where he left houses and fields behind,
the Lord said, “The moment you shut this gate behind you, don’t allow the
devil to speak to you again. You will not need a penny until the day you pay
your mother.” (The Lord had directed Rees to pay his mother for the meals he
was eating.)

“So I gave the devil one hit,” Rees said, “and told him that I wasn’t going to
pray a single prayer for money until the end of the month. I never doubted
that the people I was working for would pay me on Saturdays, so why should
I doubt God? I didn’t pray a single prayer again, but I lived to worship my
heavenly Bridegroom.”

On the last day of the month, about midday, the Lord told him to descend the
mountain and go home; and as soon as he arrived, his father came in for
lunch. The final test on his new call to a life of faith had come. “The manager
says he has kept your job open, and you can take it again if you want to,” his
father informed him.

“What a foolish man! Why did he do that?” Rees exclaimed. “But if you don’t
mean to earn a living again,” continued his father, “who is going to keep you?”
“Don’t you agree that if I am working for God, He can keep me as that last
earthly master kept me?” asked Rees.