Testimonies for the Church, Volume 2 - Ellen G. White

their ways to Him He would bring them forth from
the furnace of affliction purified. Brother S has
looked upon the dark side, and doubted whether he
was a child of God—doubted his salvation. I saw
that he should not labor too hard to believe, but
should trust in God as a child would confide in its
parents. He worries too much—he worries himself
out of the arms of Jesus, and gives the enemy a
chance to tempt and annoy him. God knows the
feebleness of the body and of the mind, and will
require no more of him than He will give him
strength to perform. He has tried to be faithful and
true to his profession. He has failed in his life in a
number of things, all ignorantly. In regard to the
discipline of his children, he has considered it his
duty to be strict, and has carried this discipline too
far. He has treated small offenses with too great
severity. This has had an influence to wean, in a
degree, the affection of the son from the father.
During his sickness Brother S has had a diseased
imagination. His nervous system has been all
deranged, and he has thought that his children did
not feel for him and love him as they should; but
this was the result of disease. Satan wished to
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