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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
May, 1939
Junior King's Business By MARTHA S. HOOKER
GOD H EA R S AND AN SW ER S B y G ordon E. H ooker *
W HEN I was a small boy, about the age of most of you who read this page, I lived in the far-off land of Tasmania. I wonder whether you can locate the place on a map. Yes, it is really a part of Australia, the land of the Southern Cross, though Tasmania is separated from the mainland. Tasmania is a land of deep, dark forests which are a delight to any boy who enjoys adventuring in unknown places. My home was in a mining town, about fifty miles from the sea. Not far away was a tall grey mountain, surrounded by a dense forest of scrub, bushes, and trees, all grow ing so closely together that a trail had to be cut through if one wished to penetrate this dense forest. Many beautiful trails had been cut through near the town, and some of them were miles long. A river ran about the base of the mountain and wound its way through the forest. One day my friend, Herbert, was sent on an errand by his father to a place near this winding river. Because we were special friends, he asked me to go with him. Of course I was thrilled when my mother agreed to my going, for We boys delighted to hike down by the river, explore new trails, and wander about in the forest. W e soon delivered the message for Herbert’s father, and then .our thoughts turned to the river. How inviting its waters looked—so cool and refreshing! It seemed still early in the day. Surely there would be time to wade about in the cool, clear water, we argued to ourselves. The run ning water felt wonderfully good on our feet after the long hike. The time passed all too quickly. W e waded longer than we had planned. Then, instead of hurrying home as we should have done, we decided to take a new way home. Why not follow the river around the mountain until we came to a mining camp which we were sure was located on the other side of the mountain? It would take only an hour, we concluded; and once we reached the mining camp, home would only be three miles away. Then what a thrilling story of adventure we would have to tell the other boys at school the next day! Urged on by these dreams of excitement, we started out. But, alas, the mining camp was miles away! There were no regular trails, and it was hard to follow the winding river. An hour passed, and then another, and soon the darkness of night crept over the already dark, almost junglelike forest. W e hurried our steps, but there seemed to be nothing ahead but darkness and more forest. It grew darker and darker. Soon we began to trip and fall over logs, low underbrush, and *Member o f the Music Faculty o f the Bible Institute o f Los Angeles.
No sooner had we prayed, boys and girls, than God answered our prayers. A narrow, rushing torrent entered the larger river at this point. Instead of following up the main river as we might have been likely to do, we began to walk along the bank of this side stream, and soon came to a well-worn trail. Can you imagine our joy? W e knew then that God had heard and answered our prayers, and had shown us just where to turn away from the main riyer. Soon a light appeared across the stream. This renewed our hope and courage, but how were we to reach the light?, The water —wider here—separated us. Again God in answer to our prayers provided a way. W e soon discovered a tree that had fallen across fhe stream, providing a natural bridge. The log was wet and slippery. One false step would have meant death in the foam ing torrent. Yet God our heavenly Father guided our steps, and we were soon safe on the other side, though our clothes were wet by the spray from the river. Tired as we were, we ran toward the light, and to our great joy found that it shone from the window of a little hut in which Herbert's brother was living at the time while he was working in Weir’s Sur prise Mine. Yes, we were at the mine at last, the mine we had thought was "just around the mountain"! Herbert’s brother soon provided tea for us, but we dared not stay long, for we were anxious to reach home and let our parents know that we were safe. Our homes were three miles away, and what a long three miles they were! Finally, we reached home and our loved ones. I need not describe the deep joy of both our parents and the two of us boys! Herbert and I learned many lessons that day, but the one that has been most helpful and has stayed with me through the years is this—that God hears and answers prayer. "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee," we read in Psalm 50:15. I was surely lost that day in the dark forest of Tasmania, but that was not the first time I was “lost.” Before I knew the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour, I was lost and undone, condemned and without hope. If you, boys and girls, have not re ceived the Lord Jesus as your own Saviour —as the One who died for your sins—you, too, are lost. But as God answered my prayer when I called upon Him in the "day of trouble" in the forest of Tasmania, so He heard my cry when I called upon Him to save me from sin. Won’t you call upon Him today, boys and girls, and be saved? "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13).
Tasmania Is a Land of Deep, Dark Forests
tangled creepers. W e would have been utterly lost had it not been for the river. W e tried as best we could to keep it in view most of the time, but there were times when the forest proved so dense on the bank that we had to make detours, hastening back as fast as we could to the river again. W e traveled in this way for hours. Both of us were terribly frightened. W e knew that this forest was the home of wildcats and other wild animals. W e thought, too, of the mistake we had made in attempting to go home by a new, untraveled way. Then we thought of our parents. How anxious they must be! What were they thinking? What would they do? These thoughts urged us on the faster for a while. Then, growing weary, Herbert began to lag be hind. Fearing that he might lie down and fall asleep from sheer weariness, I forced him to walk ahead. On we went, expecting that surely we would come to the mining camp soon, but as each turn in the river brought us only disappointment, we finally concluded that we were indeed lost. No one would ever find us there. W e seemed doomed to die right there in the dark forest—and then we thought of God—and prayer. Why hadn’t we thought of God before? I suppose the reason was that we thought we could find our way out ourselves, but when we realized that we were helpless, undone, and lost, our thoughts turned to God. So there in the dark, dense forest we knelt down and prayed to God our heavenly Father, asking Him to guide us and lead us safely home.
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