Chapter 22—Advancing Under Difficulties
After Nathaniel’s death in May, 1853, my husband was much
afflicted. Trouble and anxiety of mind had prostrated him. He had a
high fever, and was confined to his bed. We united in prayer for him;
but though relieved, he still remained very weak. He had appointments
out for Mill Grove, N. Y., and Michigan, but feared that he could not
fill them. We decided, however, to venture as far as Mill Grove, and
if he grew no better, to return home. While at Elder R. F. Cottrell’s
at Mill Grove, he suffered much extreme weakness, and thought he
could go no farther.
We were in much perplexity. Must we be driven from the work by
bodily infirmities? Would Satan be permitted to exercise his power
upon us, and contend for our usefulness and lives, as long as we should
remain in the world? We knew that God could limit the power of Satan.
He might suffer us to be tried in the furnace, but would bring us forth
purified and better fitted for His work.
I went into a log house near by, and there poured out my soul
before God in prayer that He would rebuke the disease and strengthen
my husband to endure the journey. The case urgent, and my faith
firmly grasped the promises of God. I there obtained the evidence
that if we should proceed on our journey to Michigan, the angel of
God would go with us. When I related to my husband the exercise of
my mind, he said that his own mind had been exercised in a similar
manner, and we decided to go, trusting in the Lord. My husband was
so weak that he could not buckle the straps to his valise, and called
[149]
Brother Cottrell to do it for him.
Every mile we traveled he felt strengthened. The Lord sustained
him. And while he was preaching the Word, I felt assured that angels
of God were standing by his side.
121