When British Prime Minister William Gladstone was facing one of the greatest crises of his political life, he sat down one morning at two o’clock to write the speech he hoped would help him win a political victory in Parliament the following day. At that same hour, the mother of a dying child saw the light on in his home and knocked on his door. She asked him to come and bring a message of hope and cheer to her son. Without hesitation, Gladstone left his half-finished speech on his desk and spent the remainder of the night with the child, leading him to Christ before he died. As the morning light was breaking, he went back to his study and faced his own day with a smile of confidence, peace, and power. He said to a friend later that morning, ‘I am the happiest man in the world today.’ When asked why, he replied that the previous night he had been allowed to serve a child in the name of his Master. Later that day Gladstone made what many consider to be the greatest speech of his life. The House of Commons was won over and his cause triumphed. Were the two events related? Gladstone was convinced that they were. Before leaving the leaders of the church at Ephesus for the last time, Paul told them: ‘I have shown you in every way, by labouring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”’

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.