Reluctance to Relate the Vision

From what has been related, it is evident that Ellen Harmon was not a bold, forward person. To go forth as a messenger for God was not a path of her choosing. When in a later vision she was bidden to go and relate to others the things that God had shown to her, the trials and hardships of her future life were laid open before her. Of her reluctance to do this work, she says:AGP 271.6

“My health was so poor that I was in actual bodily suffering, and, to all appearance, had but a short time to live. I was but seventeen years of age, small and frail, unused to society, and naturally so timid and retiring that it was painful for me to meet strangers. I prayed earnestly for several days and far into the night, that this burden might be removed from me and laid upon someone more capable of bearing it. But the light of duty never changed, and the words of the angel sounded continually in my ears, ‘Make known to others what I have revealed to you.’

“I was unreconciled to going out into the world, its sneers and opposition rose before my mind in formidable array. I had little self-confidence…. How could I, a child in years, go forth from place to place unfolding to the people the holy truths of God! My heart shrank in terror from the thought.” The Ministry of Healing, 194.

When we remember the terrible mental struggle connected with the impression that she should take part in a prayer meeting, we can better appreciate the agonizing fear with which she contemplated traveling and meeting a world with its natural skepticism regarding present-day divine revelations. But when she finally surrendered, she found that added strength was given her for the call to which she responded.AGP 272.1