Introduction
Ellen G. White, the messenger of the Lord, knew the meaning
of suffering. Her childhood hopes were blighted by an accident, at
the age of nine, which nearly cost her life. She passed through the
experiences of motherhood four times. Twice she was bereaved of a
son. For nearly half of her public life she was a widow. She knew the
meaning of lingering illness. Her messages of encouragement to those
who were in affliction, to those who faced death, and to the aged and
the bereaved were tempered by her own experience
.
No one can explain the mysteries of providence, but those who
have trusted God in times of trial and suffering know that God is
working out His plan. Mrs. White knew this and revealed it in her
day-by-day journal for 1892 in which she jotted down, with diary
terseness, her reaction to ten months of suffering in a strange land. Her
disappointment in not being healed in response to prayer and anointing,
and her unfaltering trust in God in life or death are here revealed
.
The personal messages written by Mrs. White under varying cir-
cumstances, and presented here for the comfort of those who must
suffer, will help to answer the questions, why, if God is a God of
love, must His people suffer long illness? Why must they languish
on beds of pain? Comfort and encouragement will come to the per-
son who is passing through experiences of a character described in
these pages. Whatever repetition occurs is merely for the purpose of
bringing comfort in as many personal situations as possible
.
White Trustees
.
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