There was once a missionary from Europe who traveled to a distant heathen country to preach the Gospel. This foreign country was situated in a tropical climate and was very different from the missionary's own homeland. One day, he told the natives that in his country the water could become very hard during the winter. So hard in fact, he said, that an elephant could walk on it!

The natives looked at each other in surprise. Water so hard an elephant could walk over it? Where they lived, of course, the water was always warm. In certain water springs the high temperatures would even make the water boiling! It was hard to imagine how what the missionary told them could possibly be true.

Yet, when it came down to it, the people agreed to believe the amazing story. Why? Because by that point, they had come to know the missionary well. He had always been a good and kind man. Of course he would only tell them the truth. And so, even though their own experience deemed it impossible to believe - the natives decided that what the priest said must be true and they believed his word.

If simple natives, blessed with common sense, could see how a good man can be trusted at his word, how much more readily should we believe in God's word? God is so much more reliable and trustworthy than even the most saintly of creatures could ever hope to be. How much more, then, should men believe in His word and the promises He makes to His creatures?

"Do you desire security? Here you have it. The Lord says to you "I will never abandon you." If a good man made you such a promise, you would trust him. God makes it, and do you doubt? Do you seek a support more sure than the word of God, which is infallible? Surely, He has made the promise, He has written it, He has pledged His word for it, it is most certain." - St. Augustine