"An Answered Prayer" - Elizabeth Swift Brengle by Kathleen Pearce

CHA P TE R X AN ANSWERED

PRAYER

' W h a t i s a n u n d e r sta n d in g h e a r t- th a t th in g r vhi ch a nortal n a y o b t a i n f r o m Go d , a n d wh ich th e r vise st o f hi s ti me chose b e f o r e l o n g l i f e , p o we r , o r r ich e s? I ca n n o t fi nd that i t i s anything more or anything less than what David called a clean heart.'-E. S. B.

f UST about this time a certain )'oung man in Boston town \\'aspraying for a rvife. IIe had J led a someu'hathomeless.lonelv sort of life from the day of his mother's death in his early boyhood. His father, .ivhomhe could not remember, an officerin Grant's army, rrradethe soldicr's supremesacrificeat the siege of Vicksburg during the Civil War, and closedhis eyes for ever, when his tiny son was but a baby. Up through school, coiiege, and theologicalseminary, Sam Brengle had bravely rvorkedhis u'ay. Ambition had urged him tolvardslarv at first, 'but later the Spirit of God led him into the ministry. The blessing of a clean heart made him turn aside from what would undoubtedly have been a position very near the top of his chosenprofession in favour of the strenuouslife of an evangelist. His had been to a large extent a life of faith ; he had accustomed himself to ask the Lord about everything, and this question of a rvife \\'as, hc

ANS\VBRED

PITAYER

realized, the most stupendous and momentous happeningof his life. None of the young ladies rvho, as he lineu', regardedhim u,ith friendh, eyes, and n'hom he regardedin like frienclll.fashion, seernedto be for hirn. One after another he brought before the Lord in prayer, but there lvas no ansu'eringvoice bidding him go foru'ard. 'Lord, choosefor me,' he cried; ,l leave the matter q'ith Thee.' And the Lord ansrveredhis prayer. One day a churn of his rushcd into his roout, declaring he had found just the girl for him ! He had been to a Holiness trIeeting in a church, led by a lady Salvationist,a tr{issSrvift. Brengle must go ancl hear her. The young evangelist promised he u,ould, not becauseof the girl, but becausehe rvas ver.r'much interestedin The SalvationArmy. He harl already read most of the books r,,.rittenby The General and l,{rs. Booth, r'r'hich had been introducedinto America by one of his theological teachers, Dr. Daniel Steele. Already he rvas looked upon by his friends as half a Salvationist in mernner,and rvhollyone in spirit, He rventthat night to the llceting. Twentv-ninevearslater he 11'16f9 ; -

I can-see her still, through blinding tears, ;rs she stoocl that night before that critical- and only half sympatl-reticzudisngs-a slender, delicate, cultured 11:e11an-x1dpreaciredthe truth as i had seldom. if ever.,hea.rdit preached, in language simple, yet cielica te l ,r'ref ined,and s earc ' h i rrg n . i l i rc to th e c o n s c i e n ces or mell,

\{r' chrrm rvas right (he goes on). I fell in love rvith

I lLI Z A BE T T {

S\\T IF ' i '

B R E NGLIi

her at first sight, and lost my heart, but not my head' in matters of"lorieinvoh'ing marriage, I am persuaded itrat head and heart sh<luldkeep pace rvith each other' ;the.e should be not only lt-rve,rvhich is a pass-ionof but also profound respect and intellectual heart, the sympathy, rvhich are'largelv matters of the head' III' ti.ari ttei'tt.te first inningl,'rrnd I proposcd to give nt1' head a chanceI so the next morning I rvrote her a ended rvhich letter and began a correspotrdence, -tre'rter lor ever' pen the laid dou'n hand little till her tired S he lik e d h i m, to o , e s p e c i a i l y a s very earl v i rr t heir ac qua i n ta n c e h e p o i n te d o u t to her a certai rr lac k in her s p i ri tu a l l i fe . H e d e s c ri bes i t thus:She u'orked tc the limit, and she prayed {erl'entl)', but she seemedto me to lack appropriating faith-the faith that takes, receives,and is glad ; the -faith n'hich rests as it rvorits; the faith thaf drives the r'r'rinklcs from the brou', the burden off the heart, leaving tlrtr facc sunny and the heart free.; the faith that makes p."1i"t end in a bttrst of thanksgiving, and u'liich "rr.ry lingeri ',.iith tl.r" Lord for srveet fellolvship ancl conrrnunion rvhen prayer is done. Tire-v had some further conversaticln and corr es ponden c e u p o n th i s s trb j e r:t; b u t the l i ght di d not come to l.ily for some rveeks, uthen she rvas obliged t o g o to a s a n a to riu m ' to avoi d a complete breakdou n. O ne dav s h c rv a s s i tti n g i d l y o n th e l arvn l ooki ng r r p int o a g l o ri o u s c h e s tn u t tre e i n ful l bl ossom. rvhen it rvas borne in upon her that there u'as s om et hing mo re s h e o u g h t to h a v e ' ' Lor d, ' s h e p ra y e d , ' th e re ' s s o m e t hi ng I l urven' t got . S ho w i t to m e .' Imme d i a te ll the ans\r.er' c am e- - - ' m o re a h u n d a n tl r' .'

ANS\\II]RIJD

PRAYEI{

She ran into the house,and got her Bible and Concordance, Yes, there it was : ' I am come that they might have life, and that thel' rnight have it more abundantly.' This text brought r,r'ithit a ne\v revelationof a closer and sweeterand dearer union between the soul and its God. It was a revelationthat influencedthe wholeof her after life. She rvroteabout it to her nervfriend thus :-,.,You have helpedme. You helpedme in Boston rvhenyou shou'edme that Jesusrvantedme for some-

thing more than a servant. I had never looked any higher ; but I rose higher at the Sanatoriurn; and it u'as through you I did so, by keeping rny promise to vou of praying more in the rvav of -communion and u'aiting on God. I feel His lorje about me like sunshine all the while. A few u'eeks later she referred again to this r:.xp e rienc :e. - -

Ever since Ht: gave me life more abundantly I have lorgotten more and more my servantship-though that vuas sweet and dear to rne-and have come into the hi g h e r l if c of a f r ic r r d. I a m s o s lor v t o t ake i n .s p i ri tu a l i d e a s , s o l o n g i n clirnbing spiritual heights, thit it took me all the ,"i,hile frorn your first suegestion (tv,-omonths ago) till norv t o se eth at G od had s om e th i n gb c tte r fo r mi .th a n I hacl yet taken. The idea that He could love me so. that for my fellou.shipand communion, that fle_wo-u,ld_care I should share this rvith Him, was so tremendousI It is still, and fills nre tvith rr-onder,love, and praise. The desire and effort to serve, ' to spencl and to be spent ' for others \\.as not lost, horrever, but ra th e r e nr ic hed and en l a rg e d , b v th i s e x p e ri e n c e .

ELIZ;\BETH

S\\IIFT

BRENGLE

The latter part of 1886 and the beginning of r887 were spent in England collectingmaterialfor and nriting 'The Arml' Drttm,' and '\Vhat Ilinders You ? ' Immediately before her departure for England' \,Ir. Brengle,after much prayer for guidance'consideredthe time ripe for his proposal. He was met by not only a prompt, but a decidedrefusal-a refusal quite enough to daunt any man' But it in the least. did not destroyhis hopeand confidence question upon the a to ansn'er in he said, 'No,' I felt it but to be sttre ; 'ltas sorr)/' I subject. ' her chosen had God end. in the right all rvouldbe will His to do anxiotts both rve rvere for me, and only, so it rvasbound to comeout all right.' To say that the lady in questionu'as astonished at his proposal,rvasto statethe casemildly. After the first shock she rvas heartbroken. Was this to be the end of their helpful friendship? Ver-v earnestlyshe prayed that God rvould shorvhim his mistake. Her health lras delicate, and she rvas otder than he, though she looked much younger' and for theseand other reasorrsrvhich she frankll' stated,she felt it could not bc God's n'av for her' She 'wrote:-* You are surelyunder a spell, an illusion! All my

sar-rctifiedco-mon sense savs loudll' and clearll', ' You must no f m ar r y him . ' Som e day y ou n'i l l b e g l a d t h a t I couldn't thirik as you did, that I kept you free. I slne that God meatls better things for 1'ou. Ple:rsrr ^m ask Him, as I do, to set you free.

But this her suitor steadfastlvdeclinedto clo.

ANSWI]RED

PR,\YEIT

6,)

l"Iecouldn't, and he tolcl her so. fhis pained her inexpressibly,she \\'asso sure he l'as under some delusion-that Satan $.aspreselttinghirnselfas an angel of iight. J\gain she wrote:-_ I have prayed rnuch and thought much to find out if God meant to give me to you) thinking ahvays in this order--first, of God's u'ill and the good of His cause; next, of your u'clfare; and last, of the result on my orvn soul ; and I canllot believe that FIe does mean if. I do not love )'ou cxcilpt :rs I rvoulcl a brother, anci r,vhenI think of your rvelfzrreml. very affection for you cri e s o u t , ' Y ou s hal l n o t w a s te y o u r l i fe s o .' N ot your love, but I'our life. God u:ill return that love into your ou'n heart, and some other ri'omernrvill be blessedrvith it some day'. And lvhat about rny orvn soul ? ' i\ married rvornan careth for the things of this rvorld, that she may please h e r h u s band. ' I am . s u re th a t I s h o u l d g e t rv o rldl r,, and always thinking hou, to look young and ii -bepretty as I could, just to please -I nearly should iou. surely in that rvav put ]'ou before God, and I dare not risk that. You s:l' that lour life n-rustl:e ore of utter devotion to the_XIanChrist Jesus? How that fills my soul rvith j,r]'. | 1m so glad for 1or.r,I rejoice in 1'ou. I cannot er,er risk hincleringthat, I do trust Him for you. 'I'he questioll sank into abel'ance for the tiute be i n g . He s t ay ed at h o me , a n d p ra c ti s e d th e v i rt ue of patience; she rvent over the seas, rene\\'ed olcl f ri e n d s hips , and m a d e n e l v o n e s , tra v e l l e d a ncl interviewed, and tvrote her books, serenely believing tl'rat her u'ay rvas the right way. If she had ent er t a i n e d a n y fo n d b e l i e f th a t h er. friend had altered his point of vierv or that she had rn a d e h i m r elinquis h h i s p u rp o s e , s h e rn ,a ss p e e c l i l v

ELIZABETH

SWIFT

BRENGLE

undeceivedupon their first rneeting' At last it rr,asrevealedto her that the blessing' the Divine gift, of a good man's love, that she had so perJistently thrust frorn her and laid upon the altar, rvas for her. They were married one sweet NIay daf in the library of the home that \vasso dear to her' Apple blossoms from the old orchard and lilies-of-thevalley f rorn the home garden scentedthe air; the r.'eddingguestswere for the most part the poor ot the tol',Inship,her Converts, and the attendersoI the little viliage hall Meetings. It was a beautiful wedding; simpte as a r'veddingcould be' Thel' ,u"r" ,iit"d according to The Armv Nlarriagtr Service, for the Rev. Samuel Brengle had, before this, decidedto throw in his lot rvith The Salvatiort ,\rnty. The vows she plirl'ed over so t'arnestly many times, before the day rn'henshe reverently made them in public, rvere faithfuily l<ept as long as life lasteci. 'An ideal marriage ' I have often heardtheir union called,and one in a hundred,so perfectly mated did they seem. And what rvasthe iecret ? For sccret there was ! They rrere made of the ordinary material,life for thern held the same rvorries, and irets, and vexations that it does for all of us. and that wâ&#x201A;Źar on the mind and soul more even than bigger troubles. Years afterrvardsshtr the onlr true and wrote, out of Gr own experience' reliablerule for marriedbliss :*Both must love God {rom beginningto end }:etter tha l ea ch o t her ; t hev m us t hold- eac h ot h c r l i k e G o d 's

AN r \NS W E RIjD P RA Y E I1

r.ithergifts, alrvavsat His ou'n disposal. This is the ontr indispensablefactor in married happiness. There is n<r true, lasting happinessin tire union of atlv tq'o httmatt lir-esrvhere-Goclis not made and kept a royal first. And twent)'-eigiit vears after that lovel1' Nlay n o o n , her hus ban d , l o o k i n g d o rl n o n h e r dead face, corroborated everl' lvord she had l'ritten. IIe said : - A fert' da,r'sLreforentl dariing t'ent Florne her littlc hands began to srvell, end tl're nurse said her u;eddingring u'ould have to come off. I was-presentrvhen tire jcuiettercut off the synbol ol or.trtender love and union i-rom the helpless hand. It seerned as though he u'ere cutting into my heart. But rvhen I took the little ring, ancl rdad the inscription I had engraved rvithin it trvJnty-eight years before, m'!' heart rejoiced' It rvas ' Ilolinesi utto |h.e Lord.' 'fhat *'rs her secret and mine. We set oursehresto plactise ' Flolinessunto the Lor<f in all the common affairs and tender intimacies of our prir-ate life as r'"'ellas in our public ministry. We coienanted to u'atch over each other jealously, cach helping the other to keep in the experienceof that moito.- \Ve testified, we preached, r've rvrote in season,out of -season,that God might be glorified in the hearts and live.s of His people. We prayed together and apart for this. No t onder it r v a s a i n i d c a i u n i o n ! A n d thei r se cl 'et is an open o n e ; th e i r e x p e ri e n c e i s not u n i q u e; f ur t her m o re , i t i s rth a t Go d i n te n d s by On these I-Iis sacred ordinance of matrimony. sweet, happv, early' days her husband loves to look back, and looking backs'ard into the golden p a st he t ells us a li ttl e o f w h a t s h e w a s to h i m:-* She taught me to see beautl' cveryrvhere. I came frorn rhc li;AOtc \\rest, n'here m-r' grandfather helped

ELIZABETH S\\rlF-',f tsItENGLE

to build a fort to protect the settlers from the Indians. These people were generally too busy u'restiing rvith the great forests, and struggling to build up homes, and rear their large families to see the u'ondrous beautiesall about them. But she made me seearrd feel beauty in every fence corner, tangled thicket, fleecy cloud, and murmuring brook. F{er delight over all these beauties was infectious, ar.rdI caught some of lr er s oir it . I\'Iorethan an-yone else, she taught me to sce rvorth and v as t poss i b i l i ti e si n d e g ra d e da n d n e g l ectedsoul s. At the age of seventecnI had gone to the Universitl', ancl fronr then till I met her rnv associationshad been rvith u'ell-to-doand cultureclpe6p1e;but she introduced me to the poverty-stricken,the ignorant, the pagan in our midst, and made me see their spiritual value. She sarv to it that all the despisedand poor of the community were invited to our rvedding, and her father's house overflorvedthat day rvith all the tatterdernalionsof the cour.rtry-side.She took me rrith her to extend a special invitation to old Granny 8., rvho lived in a log hut a\tr'ayup the nrountain-side,and who u'ould in all probability have been burned as a lvitch had she lir.ed 3oo years earlier. She had a carriage sent to bring the poor old womarl r'.'hohad been saved in one of her l{eetings, and ovelrvhose soul she had u'atched anrl rejoiced like :r nrother oler a new-born babe, When she rvent n'ith me, as she sometimesdid, on one of my tours, she n'ould, during the Prayer X{eeting, qet hold of the very worst old sinner in the Hall and labour t o br in g h i m to C h ri s t. If s h e d i dn' t get hi m the first nigl.rt, she r.vouldtalk to me about him, pra1,' for him, and watch for his return next night that she rnight lav siege to his sorrl. She loved ihe souls of such people. \\'hen she has been talking to some utterly degraded old sinner I have often heard in her voice the tender, yearning notes that used to tremble and thrill in her tones rlhen speaking to and making lo'r'eto her babies.

AN ANSWEI{ED Pl{AYEll'

i.l

And again and again when everyltodl' had left the Nleeting but the janitor, I have had to pull her arva,'" fronr sorne obstinate oid wreck ri'ith rvhom she rvas pleading, and as rve tvent she u'ould linger and turn her tircd, pale face and 1'earning eyes bacliu,ard, and beseech h im to g ile his hc ar t t o G od. It t hat

rvas her first book, h us band g ale he r

' .'\ (lladle of limi:ire,' lr is f inal c all int o T h e

I{e said :-'\rr.r'ry. fhis little book, I thinl<,finaliy tipped the scales and dropped nre into The ;\rrn-v, I '.vasa student in the Tl.reologicalSchool of Iloston Universit)', and the apostolic simplicit-v and spirit and der-otiorl of The Army's school was so different from the scholastic spirit of the TheologicalSchool that it broke n'r1'hertrt, a n d , bur s t ing int o te a rs , I c ri e d o u t, ' T h e s e a re ml ' p e o plc . ' Their indebt edn e s s to e a c h o th e r u ' a s ml l tual , a n d as t he y ear s we n t b y th e i r s o u l s g re w a n d thei r sp i ri t ual under s t an d i n g e x p a n d e d a s tl te y c o n ti nued to ta l< es weet c oun s e l to g e th e r.