“See What a Little Faith Can Do?”

Godfrey J. Ellis

Washington, USA

Illustration © Gary Alphonso, i2iart.com

Some time ago, my wife and I took our two youngest sons to France to tour the areas I had served in as a full-time missionary. We visited branches of the Church I had served in and rejoiced with members I had taught. We also visited historical sites.

One site was the ruins of the Château de Châlucet. This massive medieval castle was attacked and largely destroyed centuries ago. Vegetation had grown all around the ruins, and the trail to get there was narrow and steep. We had a difficult climb, but it was worth the effort once we arrived.

The boys loved climbing down into what was once the dungeon and high up on what little was left of the castle walls. The castle captivated their imaginations just as it had captivated mine 24 years earlier.

While we were there, a summer storm appeared in the distance. It moved in fast. Dark clouds and lightning filled the sky, followed by great claps of thunder.

We scrambled down the trail and made a run for the car as the storm raced toward us. Soon, torrential, pounding rain drenched us and the dirt trail turned to mud. We worried that we would lose our footing and fall down the steep, rocky trail.

We spotted some shelter among the trees on the edge of the path. We huddled together under the shelter and wondered how long we would have to wait to get back down.

“Let’s say a prayer,” our youngest son said.

He asked to offer it and prayed that the rain would stop so we could get down the hill safely. He looked at us and said, “Now all we need is enough faith.”

I explained that prayers don’t always work like that.

“No,” he said, “it’ll stop in 10 minutes!”

After about 10 minutes, the rain stopped.

“OK, let’s go!” he said.

“If we leave now, the rain will start again and we’ll be trapped,” our older son said.

“It won’t!” our youngest replied. “Let’s go!”

We made our way through the drier parts of the path, holding back bushes and branches as we went. Back at the car, we offered a prayer of gratitude. Soon the rain started again.

“See what a little faith can do?” our son said humbly.

He taught us all a great lesson that day.