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<p>To Miss C., May 1845.<br />
  My dear Anne, <br />
  I am truly grieved to see you so cast down, and wonder why it is; but your heavenly Father knows all. May He glorify Himself, and comfort you. He has delivered, He does deliver, and we trust in Him that He will yet deliver. May He increase your faith, and keep it in constant exercise; for &quot;this is the victory which overcomes the world--even our faith,&quot; (1 John 5:4.) Taking the shield of faith, all the fiery darts of the wicked one are quenched. Through faith, the ancient worthies did wonders, and even weak women have been gloriously triumphant. Faith says, &quot;Has He <em>said </em>it--and shall He not <em>do </em>it?&quot; (Num. 23:19) Though all be dark and contrary, I will trust and not be afraid. May this be your feeling; and whether it be a bear or a lion, or an uncircumcised Philistine--which has come out against you, meeting them in the name of the Lord Almighty, they must be overcome, and you will have to sing of Jesus. He has slain His tens of thousands!<br><br>
Perhaps you will think I am too much indulged just now to be able to write suitably to one bound in affliction and iron. I freely confess my inability, and just write to sympathize. The path of life is ever above to the wise, to save from the snares of hell beneath--and therefore I point upward.<br><br> Christ is the way of life, light, and liberty. Power still belongs unto God; but when in a low place myself, I did even then love to hear of the way of faith, though I could not get at it; and, now that the Lord has given me faith as a grain of mustard seed, I am doubly fond of that way, and <strong>if I had a thousand souls as black as hell I would trust them all to the love, blood, and righteousness of Emmanuel</strong>, yes, trust them to His honor too, for He says, &quot;Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out.&quot; (John 6:37) If but the most weak or wicked that ever came were to be rejected, what would He do unto His great name, &quot;faithful and true?&quot; Oh, it shall never have such a stain upon it, let unbelief say what it may! &quot;He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer,&quot; (Psalm 102:17) though He may not seem to reply when they expect it. &quot;Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.&quot; (Psalm 27:14)<br><br>
Dear Anne, <strong>I know not your present malady—but I know Christ is the remedy for it! </strong>O all-healing, all-loving, all-absorbing Christ--be revealed in manifested power, or give faith to trust You in apparent absence and distance, for You are worthy to be trusted through the very worst. I wish you a speedy and blessed deliverance, and power from the Lord to rejoice, not in it—but in the Deliverer, to whom be endless praises evermore. Amen.<br><br>
I did not mean to write so much—but I have gone to that cruse and barrel which never empties, so no ink or paper can suffice. There is more in Christ for empty souls, than pen or tongue of men or angels can count! May you have free access, and eat and drink, and forget your poverty, being taken up with His riches, fullness, and glory, in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. The Lord comfort you, and establish your heart with grace. Adieu.<br><br>
Yours affectionately, in our Beloved One,<br />
  His gleaner, Ruth

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