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many who would be pleased to get close to the church and the school
who would not be helps, but hindrances. They feel that they should be
helped and favored. They do not appreciate either the character or the
situation of the work in which we are engaged. They do not understand
that all that has been done at Avondale has been accomplished with
the hardest labor and through the use of money given with sacrifice or
which must be paid back to those from whom it was borrowed.
Among those who will desire to settle near our schools there will
be some who are filled with self-importance and anxiety about their
own reputation. They are sensitive and factious. These need to be
converted, for they are far from standing where they can receive the
blessing of the Lord. Satan tempts them to ask favors which, if granted,
will only injure them, and thus they bring anxiety to their brethren.
The living principles of the word of God need to be brought into the
lives of many who now find no room for these principles. Those who
are learning in the school of Christ will count every favor from God as
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too good for them. They will realize that they do not deserve all the
good things they receive, and they will count themselves happy. Their
faces will express peace and rest in the Lord, for they have the word
of God that He cares for them.
“Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is My throne, and the earth is
My footstool: where is the house that ye build unto Me? and where is
the place of My rest? For all those things hath Mine hand made, and
all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look,
even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My
word.”
Isaiah 66:1, 2
. During the closing days of 1898 we had many
experiences to teach us what these words mean. My heart was greatly
burdened, and matters were then opened before me in regard to the
evils that would arise from disposing of the land near the school to
be occupied with dwelling houses. We seemed to be in a meeting for
counsel, and there stood among us One who was expected to help us
out of our difficulties. The words He spoke were plain and decided:
“This land, by the appointment of God, is for the benefit of the
school. You have had evidences of the working of human nature and
what it will reveal under temptation. The greater the number of families
that settle around the school buildings, the more difficulties there will
be in the way of teachers and students. The natural selfishness of
the children of men is ready to spring into life if everything is not