Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)
Lt 182, 1901
Haskell, Brother and Sister
St. Helena, California
November 4, 1901
Portions of this letter are published in SD 22, 331; 7MR 395. +Note
Dear Brother and Sister Haskell,—
I am writing you a few lines after reading quite a large amount of matter to go this morning. I sent a check for $1,000 as the special property of Elder Haskell, loaned to me to use in the work and cause of God when we were in Australia. It is your own property, Elder Haskell, and it may help you to feel that you are not wholly dependent. May the Lord strengthen and bless you both in your work. 16LtMs, Lt 182, 1901, par. 1
Three times I have decided to push my way to New York City. I should be pleased to bear my testimony there, and if I cannot throw off the burden, I may come yet. But to leave my writing and my workers just now seems to be impossible. I want the book we are now preparing to be ready for circulation by New Year’s. My workers are doing good service, but I need to be with them. One year has gone, and the work that should be in circulation is far behind. I am putting all the time possible into work for the sanitariums. The burden I have carried for the Sanitarium at St. Helena has been a heavy one. The many letters I have had to write in reference to what has been and what must be, have taken my time, my strength, and my courage. 16LtMs, Lt 182, 1901, par. 2
I have longed to bear my testimony in New York City, but the burdens I have carried in connection with the variances, the strife, the discordant elements among the class who should be true yokefellows, have given me a dread of these disagreeing elements. I long for repose, to be relieved from this kind of work. I know as a people we must unify; but to have unity there must be a giving up of our own ideas, and we must love one another as Christ has loved us. I know God would have His people striving to be one in heart, in purpose, and in action. But the enemy has more or less control over the human mind. 16LtMs, Lt 182, 1901, par. 3
I would say to dear Brother Haskell, Do not hold yourself in a position to look for slights or to be seeing them. <The enemy will place enough before you if you encourage him to do so.> Behold the love expressed by the Lord Jesus, and do not show any weakness if you suppose you are not recognized. If you will only get above all these things, you will have peace and quiet in God. It is not our work to keep ourselves in our own hands. We are to consider that all our strength is in God, and that the Lord will be our helper and our God. You must not think you are your own keeper. Whether your name is mentioned or not does not change the facts. God will work with you and your wife according to your faith and trust in Him. 16LtMs, Lt 182, 1901, par. 4
I have an intense desire that you shall have such confidence in God that nothing can make you ashamed. God can take much better care of your interests than you can possibly do. Revelation 3:6-8. Then let Him work in your case, and do not yourself try to fix things to suit your ideas. Let God mold and fashion you, “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” [Hebrews 12:2.] 16LtMs, Lt 182, 1901, par. 5
Our work is to strive for unity. We are the children of the same family, and have one heavenly Father. I beseech of you to overcome this your great weakness on this point. Christ will help you; but if you try always to help and balance yourself, and act as if you were hurt and neglected, you will just as surely suppose you are when there is not a word of truth in it. I do not want you to afflict your soul in this way; it does not pay. You need to cast yourself wholly upon Jesus Christ. You are His property. 16LtMs, Lt 182, 1901, par. 6
Do not suppose that I think you have no trials. I know you have, but you imagine many things that have no foundation in truth. If you only knew how much this has cost you, and other souls as well, you would overcome everything of this character. We should be more anxious for the love of God to be expressed to us than for all the words of favor mortals can bestow. You make real something that is not real. I tell you the word of the Lord to you is, You are to cherish love and tenderness, and draw close to your brethren. Show that you trust them, and are not suspicious of them, thinking that they mean to do you harm. Do not hunt up the slights you suppose have been offered you, for in so doing there is created in your mind a train of thought that is just what Satan has introduced to bring about the very things that you supposed existed. Christ is your advocate. In this powerful, hearty recognition of God’s love, take the hand of Christ, and hold it fast. His hand holds you much firmer than you can hold His hand. Constantly let your confidence in your brethren increase, for when you think evil, you speak evil. Thus you hurt yourself and make yourself weak when you ought to be strong in God and in the power of His might. 16LtMs, Lt 182, 1901, par. 7
It is your defect to have little love in your heart for your brethren. If you were more expressive on this point, and had the spirit of the aged servant of God, John, whose heart of love was exercised toward his brethren, you would so enclose yourself in their affections that all jealousy would be discouraged. Do not put on the garments of heaviness and mistrust and lack of confidence in your brethren. Get the victory here, and then you will have swept away a great barrier between yourself and them. God is not pleased with this spirit, for it casts a dark cloud over everything before you, and this darkness you express to others. It has kept you from many blessings because you would not recognize them. You pick up this and that, and make a lie truth, and this burdens your soul all unnecessarily. 16LtMs, Lt 182, 1901, par. 8
Now draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Draw nigh to your brethren in loving confidence, and see if some expression of love from you will not bring an answering expression from them. By expressing your distrust, you have created imaginations that have not a word of truth in them. You should not hurt your soul by gathering the thistles and the thorns, but instead gather the roses and the lilies and the pinks, and express their fragrance in your words and acts. Create an atmosphere for yourself which is fragrant. Do not make trouble for yourself. 16LtMs, Lt 182, 1901, par. 9