Christie Redferns Troubles

Christie Redfern's Troubles
By Margaret Robertson

PREFACE.
The requirement of the gospel is that, having first given ourselves to
Christ, we should then devote all we have, be it little or much, to His
service. The largest gifts fall infinitely below what He deserves from us;
the smallest will not be rejected by Him. For it is the motive, not the
gift, which our Lord regards. The poor widow's mite was more
acceptable to Him than the ostentatious and lavish donations of the
wealthy. Yet the smallness, the seeming worthlessness, of our means is
often pleaded as an excuse for withholding them altogether. Because
men can do so little, they do nothing. It was the servant who had
received only one talent that wrapped his lord's money in a napkin, and
buried it in useless, unprofitable obscurity. When the multitudes
hungered in the wilderness, the disciples hesitated to bring the five
barley loaves and two small fishes, asking, "What are they among so
many?" They were taught, however, to produce their little all, utterly
inadequate as it was to the exigencies of the case, and lay it in the
hands of Omnipotent Love, that He might by His blessing increase it to
the feeding of the five thousand. "God hath chosen the foolish things of
the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things
of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things
of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and
things that are not, to bring to nought things that are, that no flesh
should glory in His presence."
This great truth is admirably illustrated in the following pages. In the
life of Christie Redfern we may see how the simple desire to serve God,
felt and acted upon by a poor, suffering child, may give an almost
heroic strength of character, and may produce results, the magnitude

and grandeur of which are altogether out of proportion to the feebleness
of the means employed.
CHAPTER ONE.
CHRISTIE'S CHILDHOOD.
"I've heard folks say it--I've seen it in a book myself--and I heard my
father read something like it, out of the Bible, last Sunday--`Ask, and
ye shall receive,' and in another place, `In everything by prayer and
supplication let your requests be made known unto God.' I might try it,
anyway."
But the voice that spoke was by no means a hopeful one, and there was
anything but a hopeful look on the face of the little girl who slowly
raised herself up from a mossy seat, where she had been quite hidden
by the branches of a tall birch-tree, that hung so low as to dip
themselves into the waters of the brook at the times when it ran fullest.
It was a very pretty place, and a very strange place for any child to look
anxious or discontented in. But the little girl looked as if she were both;
and there was, besides, a great deal of weariness in her manner, as she
leaned for a moment against a branch, and then stooped to let the water
flow over a spray of crimson maple that she held in her hand.
"I might try it, anyway," she repeated, as she left the place.
In some spring or autumn long ago, the swollen waters of the brook had
quite washed away the soil from between the roots of the birch-tree;
and the roots themselves, and the hollow place which the waters had
made, were covered with grass and soft moss now. In this pretty natural
seat, after an eager, half-frightened glance around, the little girl placed
herself, kneeling. She closed her eyes, and folded her hands with a
reverent gesture; but a doubtful, uneasy look passed over her face as
she let her head droop, and murmured:
"Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom
come"-- and so on to the end.

Then her head was raised; but the doubtful look had not passed away.
"That's no' just what I'm needing," she continued. "I have my daily
bread. I'm no' sure about the other things; and I canna mind another
prayer. I would make one, if I knew the way. I need so many things!"
There was a pause, and then she said, softly:
"O Lord, dinna let Aunt Elsie be vexed with me for biding here so long.
I'm sure I need that. And, O Lord, mind Effie to bring home the book
she promised me. Oh, there are so many things that I need! and I'm no'
sure that I'm asking right. But the Bible says, `Whatsoever ye ask in
My name, believing, ye shall receive.'"
She slipped from her kneeling posture, and leaned, with her eyes still
closed, against the shining