This Week in AG History -- Nov. 24, 1957

Assemblies of God missionary to India Robert W. Cummings (1892-1972) never forgot the day the Holy Spirit taught him what he later called “a life-changing lesson in Thanksgiving.” It wasn’t learned in a revival meeting or on the mission field in India. Instead, it was learned on a rain-soaked New York highway — with a wrecked car, an empty wallet, and a heart full of discouragement.

In the Nov. 24, 1957, Pentecostal Evangel, Cummings testified that he had already walked through one of the darkest valleys of his life. For two years he had suffered a severe nervous breakdown that left him unable to minister and left the care of their family of four entirely on the shoulders of his faithful wife. Yet by God’s mercy he had regained strength and begun preaching again.

At a missionary convention in Syracuse, Cummings experienced God’s blessing and even received a $25 offering — “a huge amount” in Depression-era America. Encouraged, he prayed over himself and his vehicle, then set out early the next morning to rejoin his family in New York City.

Hours later, in pouring rain and darkness, everything changed. Attempting to pass a slow-moving car, Cummings failed to see a black sedan rising out of a dip in the road. His car skidded, and the two vehicles collided. No one was hurt, but both cars were badly damaged.

For a missionary still recovering from emotional fragility, the crash felt like a crushing blow. He had no insurance, little money, and was hours from home. His first words — “Well, praise the Lord anyway” — felt hollow, especially in front of the agnostic college student he had picked up as a hitchhiker. Inside, he was filled with self-pity, embarrassment, and a painful sense of being let down by God.

But in the midst of his turmoil, another voice spoke to his heart — quiet, steady, unmistakably the Spirit’s.

Confronted by the Spirit, Cummings realized that thanksgiving — not murmuring — was the only response a trusting child of God could give. It didn’t come naturally. On the bus ride home, humiliation flooded him as he pictured telling his already-overburdened wife that the car was wrecked and the money gone.

Yet every time discouragement rose up like a tide, he forced his heart toward gratitude: “Thank You, Lord. I trust You. I refuse to doubt Your faithfulness.”

That posture of thanksgiving opened the door to miracle after miracle.

The mechanic agreed to release the repaired car for half the cost — $52 — and let Cummings pay the rest later. That Sunday, two unexpected ministry invitations brought in $35. On Wednesday, a Lutheran congregation — completely unaware of his situation — took a “silver offering” for the visiting missionary. The amount? Exactly $17. The precise sum he still lacked.

God had supplied to the dollar.

Looking back, Cummings said the Lord had been teaching him to push out “the spirits of self-pity, complaining, discouragement, and questioning doubt” and replace them with the Spirit of Thanksgiving.

“As I thanked Him for the unwelcome things,” he wrote, “there was no room for resentment or hurt pride — and they had to leave.”

His conclusion echoes Paul’s words to the Thessalonians: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you (1 Thessalonians 5:18).”

This Thanksgiving, may we remember — as Cummings learned — that nothing entering a yielded life is outside the loving will of God. And when we choose gratitude in the dip, we may just find that God’s provision is already on the way.

Read Robert Cummings article, “A Lesson in Thanksgiving,” on page 32 of the Nov. 24, 1957, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Why Praise the Lord,” by Raymond Cox

• “Elijah in A Cave,” by Ruth Steward

• “Thanksgiving in the Netherlands”

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.