Life Sketches of Ellen G. White

Times of Test and Trial

When affliction came upon my husband, other men were selected to take his place. They commenced with a good purpose, but they had never learned the lesson of self-denial. Had they felt the necessity of earnestly agonizing before God daily, and thrown their souls unselfishly into the work, not depending upon self, but upon the wisdom of God, they would have shown that their works were wrought in God. Had they heeded the reproofs and counsels given, when they did not meet the mind of the Spirit of God, they would have been saved from sin. LS 244.2

A man who is honest before God will deal justly with his fellow men, whether or not it is for his own personal interest to do so. The outward acts are a fair transcript of the principles within. Many whom God called to His work have been tested and proved; and there are others whom He is now testing and proving. LS 244.3

After God had tested and proved us in the furnace of affliction, he raised up my husband and gave him greater clearness of mind and power of intellect to plan and execute than he had before his affliction. When my husband felt his own weakness and moved in the fear of God, then the Lord was his strength. Prompt in speech and action, he has pushed forward reforms where they would otherwise have languished. He has made very liberal donations, fearing that his means would prove a snare to him. LS 244.4