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helpless and dependent, as you really are, and in humble, trusting
prayer make your wants known to Him whose knowledge is infinite,
who sees everything in creation, and who governs everything by His
will and word, He can and will attend to your cry, and will let light
shine into your heart and all around you; for through sincere prayer
your soul is brought into connection with the mind of the Infinite. You
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may have no remarkable evidence at the time that the face of your
Redeemer is bending over you in compassion and love, but this is even
so. You may not feel His visible touch, but His hand is upon you in
love and pitying tenderness....
You have need of constant watchfulness, lest Satan beguile you
through his subtlety, corrupt your minds, and lead you into inconsisten-
cies and gross darkness. Your watchfulness should be characterized by
a spirit of humble dependence upon God. It should not be carried on
with a proud, self-reliant spirit, but with a deep sense of your personal
weakness, and a childlike trust in the promises of God.
Days of Conflict and Soul-Anguish
It is now an easy and pleasant task to preach the truth of the third
angel’s message, in comparison with what it was when the message
first started, when the numbers were few, and we were looked upon
as fanatics. Those who bore the responsibility of the work in the rise
and early progress of the message, knew what conflict, distress, and
soul-anguish are. Night and day the burden was heavy upon them.
They thought not of rest or convenience, even when they were pressed
with suffering and disease. The shortness of time called for activity,
and the laborers were few.
Frequently, when brought into strait places, the entire night was
spent in earnest, agonizing prayer, with tears, for help from God, and
for light to shine upon His word. When the light did come, and the
clouds were driven back, what joy and grateful happiness rested upon
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the anxious, earnest seekers! Our gratitude to God was as complete as
had been our earnest, hungering cry for light. Some nights we could
not sleep because our hearts were overflowing with love and gratitude
to God.
Men who now go forth to preach the truth, have things made ready
to their hand. They cannot experience such privations as the laborers in