As we have seen, the lives of Old Testament prophets make clear that it has never been easy to be God’s messenger. Ellen G. White experienced the same anxieties that biblical prophets felt. As we learned last Friday, she was young, shy, and in poor health when she received God’s call. While a second vision confirmed her call, Ellen Harmon (White) remained apprehensive about God’s call, writing:
“About one week after this the Lord gave me another view, and showed me the trials I must pass through; that I must go and relate to others what he had revealed to me; that I should meet with great opposition, and suffer anguish of spirit. . . .
This vision troubled me exceedingly. My health was very poor, and I was only seventeen years old. . . . I earnestly prayed that the burden might be laid on some other one. But all the light I could get was, ‘Make known to others what I have revealed to you.’ I was unreconciled to go out into the world. I had naturally but little confidence. . . . I looked with desire into the grave. Death appeared to me preferable to the responsibilities I should have to bear.”—Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, pp. 35, 36.
Did you notice that Ellen Harmon (White) would rather die than to accept her call? After much prayer and encouragement by fellow believers, she acquiesced and devoted the remainder of her life to following “[H]is bidding.”—Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, p. 38.
She would become the most influential voice to—and even of—the future Seventh-day Adventist Church. Nevertheless, Ellen Harmon (White) was human and had her own personal faults and physical trials, family challenges, and interpersonal struggles. Yet amid her humanity, we see a great lesson: God chooses imperfect people who are willing to serve Him.
Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Ellen G. White’s prophetic ministry would encourage believers and connect them to Bible truths. By 1860, she had played a leading role in the development of the fledgling Seventh-day Adventist denomination and its mission to proclaim the three angels’ messages to the world. God would lead these believers to organize the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1863. In later decades, Ellen G. White’s prophetic voice was influential in establishing the global Adventist health and educational systems. However, the most important contribution of her ministry is her writings, totaling approximately 100,000 pages. Ellen G. White’s inspired writings continue to speak throughout the world today.
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Supplemental EGW Notes
Christ Triumphant, “Learning to Lead Through Serving,” June 8, p. 166.
The Faith I Live By, “The Gifts of the Spirit,” October 13, p. 292.\
The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.