Testimonies for the Church Volume 1 - A New You Ministry

had trusted, and who had acknowledged that our labors had been signally blessed ofGod, withdrew their sympathy from us, and bestowed it upon comparative strangers.The Lord had shown me the character and final come-out of that party; that Hisfrown was upon those connected with that paper, and His hand was against them. Andalthough they might appear to prosper for a time, and some honest ones be deceived,yet truth would eventually triumph, and every honest soul would break away from thedeception which had held him, and come out clear from the influence of those wickedmen; as God’s hand was against them, they must go down.Again my husband’s health became very poor. He was troubled with cough andsoreness of lungs, and his nervous system was prostrated. His anxiety of mind, theburdens which he bore in Rochester, his labor in the office, sickness and deaths in thefamily, the lack of sympathy from those who should have shared his labors, togetherwith his traveling and preaching, were too much for his strength, and he seemed to befast going down to a consumptive’s grave. That was a time of gloom and darkness. Afew rays of light occasionally parted the heavy clouds, giving us a little hope, or weshould have sunk in despair. It seemed at times that God had forsaken us.The Messenger party framed all manner of falsehoods concerning us. These wordsof the psalmist were often brought forcibly to my mind: “Fret not thyself because ofevildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soonbe cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.” Some of the writers of thatsheet even triumphed over the feebleness of my husband, saying that God would takecare of him, and remove him out of the way. When he read this as he lay sick, faithrevived, and he exclaimed: “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord,and may yet preach at their funeral.”96