George-Whitefield-Field-Preacher

WEAK BUT WILLING 147
great concern. The master sat by and wept. ' But, alas !
says Whitefield, who hoped his time of departure was come,
' alas ! in a short time I perceived my body grow stronger, and
I was enabled to walk about.' He got back among the
beloved orphans in a very prostrate condition, and could
hardly bear up under the joy and satisfaction which he felt.
The arrival of some Charleston friends somewhat revived him,
but again he was cast down by weakness of body and concern
of mind; and one night, just as he began family prayer, he was
struck, as he thought, with death. A few broken accents, a
soft prayer— ' Lord Jesus, receive my spirit '— fell from his
lips. Yet he was still appointed to life. The next day was
Sunday, and feeble indeed must he have been to give up, as
he did, the thought of officiating. More friends, however,
had come in, and when he solicited a Baptist minister who
was among the visitors to preach for him, that gentleman
peremptorily refused, and urged (so great was his faith for
another !) that God would strengthen him if he began. And
Whitefield stood rebuked. The willing heart mustered the
body's broken powers for another effort, and hardly had his
prayer begun when one of the visitors dropped ' as if shot by
a gun.' The power of God's word, as the visitor himself
explained his conduct, had entered his heart. He soon arose,
and sat attentively to hear the sermon. The influence quickly
spread abroad, and the greatest part of the congregation was
under deep concern. When Whitefield and his friends
returned home, the Baptist minister said :
' Did I not tell you
God would strengthen you ? ' Whitefield bowed his head,
feeling that he was justly reproved, and prayed, when he
recorded the events of the day in his journal, ' Dearest Lord,
for Thy mercies' sake, never let me distrust Thee again.
O me of little faith!"
Pressing invitations to visit New England having come to