We again took the matter to the Lord in prayer. We knew that the mighty Healer could restore both my husband and me to health, if it was for His glory so to do. It seemed hard to move out, weary, sick, and discouraged; but at times I felt that God would make the journey a blessing to us both if we went trusting in Him. The thought would frequently arise in my mind: “Where is your faith? God has promised, ‘As thy days, so shall thy strength be.’(Deuteronomy 33:25)”
(4T 278.1)
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I sought to encourage my husband; he thought that if I felt able to undergo the fatigue and labor of camp meeting, it would be best for me to go; but he could not endure the thought of accompanying me in his state of feebleness, unable to labor, his mind clouded with despondency, and himself a subject of pity to his brethren. He had been able to sit up but little since his sudden attack and seemed to grow no stronger. We sought the Lord again and again, hoping that there would be a rift in the cloud, but no special light came. While the carriage was waiting to take us to the depot, we again went before the Lord in prayer and pleaded with Him to sustain us on our journey. We both decided to walk out by faith and to venture all on the promises of God. This movement upon our part required considerable faith; but upon taking our seats in the cars, we felt that we were in the path of duty. We rested in traveling and slept well at night.
(4T 278.2)
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About eight o’clock on Friday evening we reached Boston. The next morning we took the first train to Groveland. When we arrived at the camp ground, the rain was literally pouring. Elder Haskell had labored constantly up to this time, and excellent meetings were reported. There were forty-seven tents on the ground, besides three large tents, the one for the congregation being 80 x 125 feet in dimensions. The meetings on the Sabbath were of the deepest interest. The church was revived and strengthened, while sinners and backsliders were aroused to a sense of their danger.
(4T 278.3)
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I have been shown the great mercy and infinite love of God in giving you another trial. There will be a positive necessity of your holding fast to the mighty Healer, that you may have physical and spiritual strength. You have poor health, but you are in danger of thinking that you are in a worse condition than you really are. You have not had power of endurance, because you have not cherished a patient, hopeful, courageous spirit. You yield to infirmities instead of rising above them. Temptations will assail you on the right hand and on the left, but by patient continuance in well-doing you may overcome the defects in your characters. I was shown that your feet had indeed taken hold on perdition, but God did not wholly forsake either of you. His matchless mercy in giving you another opportunity to prove your loyalty to Him calls upon you to walk with great humility and to guard self. You have petted and indulged yourselves so much that you need now to work in an opposite direction.
(4T 341.1)
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You, Brother F, have been very selfish, and this has been contemptible in the sight of God. You and your wife have stumbled again and again over this evil. Your powers have been greatly dwarfed by self-gratification and self-indulgence. Neither of you is deficient in natural reason and judgment; but you have followed inclination rather than the path of duty, and have failed to repress the wrong traits of character and to strengthen weak moral power.
(4T 341.2)
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Brother F, you are naturally an impatient, fretful, exacting man at home; and after a short acquaintance you show this out in new places. You frequently talk in an impatient, overbearing manner. This must all be repented of. You may now begin anew. God has in His boundless mercy given you another chance. Your wife has much in herself to contend against, and you should be on your guard that you do not throw her upon Satan’s ground. Fretting, faultfinding, and making strong statements must be given up. What time have you set to gain the victory over your perverse will and the defects in your character? With the advancement you now make, your probation may close before you have made the determined efforts essential to give you the victory over self. You will, in the providence of God, be placed in positions where your peculiarities, if existing, will be tried and revealed. You neither see nor realize the effect of your thoughtless, impatient, complaining, whining words.
(4T 341.3)
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