Excerpts from

The Life Magnet Vol. 2
by Robert Collier




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Chapter 1

Discouragement

"Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." —Proverbs 4:23.

YEARS ago I read a story about a man who had become so discour­aged that he decided to commit suicide.

He had married a widow, and she not only made life a burden for him at home, but spent all his savings, ran him into debt and discredited him with his employers.

He could see only one way out—to jump into the river and end his troubles.

It was Saturday night, so, waiting un­til late, he slipped out of the house and down through the deserted streets to the bridge.

Imagine the grim humor of it when, from out of the shadow of one of the great stone towers, a man with a gun stepped forth and commanded—"Hands up!"

Automatically, the discouraged man obeyed, then brought his hands down again as the humor of it gripped him. If this highwayman wanted to save him the trouble of killing himself, let him!

But the highwayman wasn't that oblig­ing. Being a bigger man, he seized the other, held him tightly while he went through the pockets the wife had emptied hours before, then turned him loose and looked him over curiously.

"What's the joke?" he asked roughly, as the intended suicide yielded to another paroxysm of laughter.

Between gasps, the man told him.

"Hum," mused the highwayman, im­mediately interested, "you ought not to do that. Why don't you just leave the woman? Leave her and start fresh some­where else."

But the other was too discouraged. His mind was made up. He was going to put an end to his troubles once and for all.

"Well, do this much, anyway," sug­gested the highwayman. "Give fate a chance. Don't just jump off the bridge, but climb up on the railing there and see how far you can walk. You'll fall over before you've gone far. If you fall on that side—all right, you're a goner and that's the end of it. But if you fall on this side, go back home and give life one more try.

The would-be suicide agreed—so the other boosted him up on to the rail and he started. Before he had gone twenty feet, he was down—and glad enough, if the truth were told, to fall on the bridge side after looking so close into the jaws of death.

His new-found friend picked him up and helped him home, where Fate chose that opportune moment to show him that the greater the obstacle, the bigger step­ping-stone to success it can be made.

But perhaps you will say that only hap­pens in stories. Read the lives of the great and you will never say it again. The difference between failure and suc­cess is measured only by your patience and faith—sometimes by inches, some­times by minutes, sometimes by the mer­est flash of time.

Take Lincoln, He went into the Black Hawk war a Captain —and came out a private. His store failed—and his survey-or's instruments, on which he depended to eke out a livelihood, were sold for part of the debts. He was de­feated in his first try for the Legislature. Defeated in his first attempt for Congress. Defeated in his application for Commis­sioner of the General Land Office. Defeated for the Senate. Defeated for the nomination for the Vice Presid-ency in 1856. But did he let that long succession of defeats discourage him? Not he. He held the faith—and made perhaps the greatest President we have ever had.

"He shall not fail nor be discouraged," promised Isaiah (42:4,6), "till he have set judgment in the earth; and the isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the Lord: I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee."

Then there was Grant. He failed of advancement in the army. Failed as a farmer. Failed as a business man. At 39, he was chopping and delivering cord-wood to keep body and soul together. Nine years later he was President of the United States and had won a martial renown second in this country only to Washington's.

Search the pages of history. You will find them dotted with the names of men whom the world had given up as failures, but who held on to their faith, who kept themselves prepared—and when their chance came they were ready and seized it with both hands.

Napoleon, Cromwell, Patrick Henry, Paul Jones—these are only a few out of thousands.

When Caesar was sent to conquer Gaul, his friends found him one day in a fit of utter despondency. Asked what the matter was, he told them he had just been comparing his accomplishments with Alexander's. At his age, Alexander had conquered the entire known world—and what had Caesar done to compare with that?

But he presently roused himself from his discouragement by resolving to make up as quickly as might be for his lost time. The result? He became the head of the Roman Empire.

"Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be dis­couraged."

—Deuteronomy 1:21.

The records of business are crowded with the names of middle-aged nobodies who lived to build great fortunes, vast institutions. No man has failed as long as he has faith in the Father, faith in the great scheme of things, faith in him­self.

But it takes the kind of simple faith that F. S. Shinn tells of in The Game of Life and How to Play It. . .

A woman was looking for an apart­ment in New York at the time when apartments were scarcely to be had for love or money.

Her friends told her she would have to store her furniture and live in a hotel. But she held on to her fath. She knew that somewhere was just the apartment she was seeking—and that the Father knew exactly where that apartment was. So she prayed to Him to open the way—prayed in the full confidence that there is a supply for every demand, that her eyes had only to be opened as were Hagar's in the desert.

She knew that if she found the apart­ment she was going to need new blankets for the winter. But caution said—wait until you find an apartment to put them in. Faith made answer—"Whatsoever ye ask for when ye pray, believe that ye receive it!"

What would the first thing be that she would do if she had the right apartment? Buy blankets. All right, if she had Faith in the Father, she must show her belief. So she went out and bought the blankets.

Needless to say she got the apartment—in what F. S. Shinn describes as a "miraculous way" and in spite of the fact that there were 200 other applicants for the same apartment. She had shown her faith.

Yesterday Ended Last Night

When Robert Bruce faced the English at the battle of Bannockburn, he had be­hind him years of failure years of fruitless efforts to drive the English out of Scotland, years of heart-breaking toil in trying to unite the warring elements among the Scotch themselves. True, at the moment a large part of Scotland was in his hands, but so had it been several times before, only to be wrested from him as soon as the English brought together a large enough army.

And now in front of him stood the greatest army England had ever gathered to her banners—hardy veterans from the French Provinces, all the great English nobles with their armored followers, wild Irish, Welsh bowmen—troops from all the dominions of Edward II, over 100,000 men—to conquer whom Bruce had been able to muster but 30,000  men, brave and hardy, it is true, but lacking the training and discipline of the English.

Was Bruce discouraged? Not he. What though the English had the better archers. What though they were better armed, better trained, better disciplined. He was fighting for freedom—and he believed in himself, he believed in his men, he believed in the God of battles.

And, as always, weight, numbers, arm­ament, proved of no avail when con­fronted with preparation and faith. The vast English host was completely defeated and dispersed. Bruce was firmly seated upon the throne of Scotland, and never more did an invading English army cross its borders.

In Joshua (6 and 7) the Scriptures tell how the Midianites and the Amalekites lay along in the valley like grass-hoppers for multitude, and had driven the chil­dren of Israel into caves in the mountains. And how Gideon gathered the Israelites together to the number of 30,000 to fight them.

But the Lord said unto Gideon: "The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me."

So Gideon told all who were fearful and afraid to depart. And 20,000 left. But still there were too many. So Gideon put the 10,000 that remained to another test, until of the original 30,000, he had only 300 men!

"And the Lord said unto Gideon: By the three hundred will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand.

"And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him: Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand.

"And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands, to blow withal; and they cried, The Sword of the Lord and of Gideon.

"And they stood every man in his place around about the camp; and all the host ran, and cried, and fled."

Never mind how many defeats you have suffered in the past. Don't be con­cerned about how great the odds may be against you. Below put it well when he said—"It's not the size of the dog in the fight that counts, so much as the size of fight in the dog." And the size of fight in you depends upon your faith—your faith in yourself, in your Father and in your cause. Just remember that yester­day ended last night, and yesterday's de­feats with it.

The power which counts is not wealth or weight or numbers or any power that comes from without—but the power that comes from within, the power of the Father. With Him arrayed on your side, you are always in the majority. You don't need to become a success—you are a success from the moment you become at one with the Father. "Acquaint now thyself with God and be at peace." Cast your burden upon the Father—and go free. He can carry it. In fact, from the moment you can truly cast it upon Him, it ceases to be a burden.

"Come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Time after time throughout the Bible we are told that the battle is not ours—but the Lord's. But like all children, we know so much better than the Father how our affairs should be handled that we in­sist upon running them ourselves.

Is it any wonder they get so tangled as to leave us in the depths of discourage­ment?

We insist upon having our birthright, and we go into a far country (away from the Father) and lose it. And then how few of us have the courage to come back to the Father, to own up that we have sinned and are unworthy to be called His sons. We would rather feed upon the husks of discour-agement and despon­dency than come back and throw our­selves upon the Father's mercy, leaving the future in His hands, taking His yoke upon us. Yet he assures us—"My yoke is easy and my burden light."

Have you ever, as a child, got into mis­chief, tried to conceal it from your par­ents, then gotten in deeper and deeper until finally, in despair, you went to them and made a clean breast of the whole thing? Remember what a relief it was to transfer that load of worry and fear from your small shoulders to their strong ones? Remember how willing you were to assume any "yoke," to suffer any pun­ishment they might inflict, in order to get rid of that crushing weight of worry?

The Father above is as loving, as ten­der, as merciful as any earthly parent can possibly be, so why not carry your worries to Him in the same spirit?

"Invited Guests"

"A crowd of troubles passed him by

As he with courage waited,

He said: "Where do you troubles fly

When you are thus belated?'

'We go,' they said, to those who mope,

Who look on life dejected.

Who meekly say good-bye to hope.

We go—where we're expected!"

                                —F. E. Allison.

When the Black Prince with his little army was penned in by Philip of France, most men would have felt discouraged. For the hosts of France seemed as numer­ous as the leaves on the trees, while the English were few, and mostly archers. And archers, in that day, were believed to stand no chance against such armored knights as rode behind the banners of Philip.

The French came forward in a great mass, thinking to ride right over that lit­tle band of English. But did the Black Prince give way? Not he. He showed the world that a new force had come into warfare, a force that would soon make the armored knight as extinct as the dodo. That force was the common soldier—the archer.

Just as the Scotch spearmen overthrew the chivalry of England on the field of Bannockburn, just as infantry have over­thrown both cavalry and artillery in many a later battle, so did the "common men" of England—the archers—decide the fate of the French at Crecy. From being despised and looked down upon by every young upstart with armor upon his back, the "common men"—the spearmen and archers—became the backbone of every successful army. And from what looked like certain annihilation, the Black Prince by his faith in himself and his men became one of the greatest conquerors of his day.

Troubles flocked to him, but he didn't recognize them as troubles—he thought them opportunities. And used them to raise himself and his soldiers to the pin­nacle of success.

"Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."

—Joshua 1:9.

There are just as many prizes in busi­ness as in war—just as many opportunities to turn seeming troubles into blessings. But those prizes go to the men like the Black Prince who don't know a trouble when they meet it—who welcome it, take it to their bosoms, and get from it their greatest blessings.

I know a man who was "stuck" with 50,000 traveling bags —and the bank was pressing him to repay the money it had loaned on them.

Did he weep? Did he get discouraged and quit? Not he! He developed a brand new market, an entirely new list he had never even thought of before, and not only sold his 50,000, but a lot more besides.

I know another man who was selling a special kind of poultry feed shortly after the war. And poultry feed seemed so in demand that he contracted for ten car­loads of it. A few months passed, and the bottom dropped out of the market—leaving him with a warehouse full of poultry feed, and five more cars to come!

Did he get discouraged and quit? Not he! He got up a prize contest, that so stimulated the interest in poultry feed that he sold not only all that he had, not alone the five cars on the way, but three additional carloads!

Nearly every man can look back—and not so far back either with most of us—and recall cases like that where, by fac­ing seeming troubles determinedly, he opened up entirely new resources, turned seeming troubles into his greatest bless­ings.

You can treat ALL troubles that same way, if you will just hold the faith, resist discouragement, and call upon the Father for help.

But yield to discouragement, and even though good come of your trial, you will lose the key to it. You will be like the man who knew that somewhere along the ocean shore was a pebble that would turn iron into gold. He started out full of hope and enthusiasm, picking up pebbles and touching them to the iron bracelet he wore.

But after a time he became discour­aged. He still walked on, picking up pebbles, touching them to the bracelet and throwing them down again, but he did it mechanically, paying no attention to what he was doing.

As the sun was setting, he glanced down at the bracelet—to find, to his astonish­ment, that it was turned to gold!

But, alas! The stone that did it was lost, somewhere back along his way. He had held it—used it—and thrown it away!

What is the use of holding on to life—unless you at the same time hold on to your faith? What is the use of going through the daily grind, the wearisome drudgery—if you have given up hoping for the rewards, and unseeing let them pass you by?

Suppose business and industry did that? How far would they get? It is simply by holding on hopefully, believing, watchfully—as Kipling put it: "Forc­ing heart and nerve and sinew to serve your turn long after they are gone, and so hold on when there is nothing in you except the will which says to them: 'Hold on'!"—that many a business man has worked out his salvation.

Take the metal mines, as an instance: Supposedly worthless mines have now become productive, slag heaps have sud­denly become worth millions, all through a froth that was discovered almost by accident!

Writing in The Compressed Air Magazine, Gail Martin says: "Froth is raising millions of tons of minerals each year to a state of high commercial value. An oily, fluffy, dirty-grey froth is separating complex minerals into valuable products. Difficult smelting problems have been overcome; waste has been converted into profitable ore; and all through the discovery that froth can he made to accomplish what no other known agency will do as effectively. Three years ago, plants in Salt Lake Valley poured on their slag dumps daily about 100,000 pounds of zinc—$2,000,000 worth annually. Today, the greater part of this metal is saved."

But do you suppose it would ever have been saved if industry had simply sat back discouraged, or if, like the man on the seashore, its efforts had been merely mechanical?

It is not enough to work. The horse and the ox do that. And when we work without thought, without hope, we are no better than they. It is not enough to merely hold on. The poorest creatures often do that mechanically, for lack of the courage to let go.

If you are to gain the reward of your labors, if you are to find relief from your drudgery, you have got to hold on hope­fully, believingly, confidently—knowing that the answer is in the great heart of the Father, knowing that He is not only willing but anxious to give it to you, the moment you have prepared yourself to receive it.

It is never the gifts that are lacking. It is never the Father who is backward in answering our desires. It is we who are  unable to see, who fail to recognize the good, because our thoughts are all of dis­couragement and lack. We dwell on the evil we see around us—and troubles come a-flocking around our heads. When all we need to do is to disclaim the evil and look for the good that is rightfully ours—and the Father's good gifts will com­pass us about.

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shall meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shall make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." —Joshua 1:8.

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