“Will you not come and live in part of our house?” Stockbridge Howland said to James White. “Some of the other Sabbathkeepers here in Topsham have a little furniture to spare. We would like to have you and your wife come and be with us.”
Gladly James and Ellen White accepted this generous offer. They had a new responsibility now, since a little son, Henry, had been born to them. Although they spent nearly all their time traveling, visiting, and teaching the people, still, with their little boy, they needed a place to call home. In the house of the Howlands they were comfortable, though their home was far from elegant.
James White had a courageous, independent spirit. God had called him to the work of the ministry and had sent messages to him telling of the work that he must do in teaching the Bible to others. But even so, James White still felt that he must support his family financially and not ask others for help. There were many who had money who would have helped had they known the need in the family, but James and Ellen White carried out their responsibilities without telling others of their needs. Constantly calls were sent asking Brother and Sister White to come and preach to some little company of believers that were hungry to hear the Bible truths. The faithful workers answered all the calls they could, but soon letters began to come asking them to go further away to other States and hold meetings. They had no money to pay their fare, and Ellen White felt that it was impossible for her to travel with her small baby. They sent word to the little companies that were calling for meetings that the way was not open for them to come.
That winter, money was very scarce in the humble home of James White. In these early times there was no regular plan for supporting our ministers. One day, when all the food in the house was gone, he walked three miles in the rain to get some money that was due him for labor, and to buy some food. But the man for whom he had worked could give him only a little money, and so Brother White could not buy much food to take home. He bought a few beans, a little meal and rice, and a few pounds of flour. He put these in a bag and carried them on his back. On his way home he passed through the town of Brunswick, where a few years before he had held meetings, and was known as a preacher. One might think that he would be ashamed and hurt to be seen going through the street with this load. But he was not downhearted. He entered his home courageously singing, “I’m a pilgrim, and I’m a stranger.”
His poor wife, however, could not feel so cheerful at first. She was shocked to think that he was given so little money from his employer and could bring home so little food.
“Has it come to this? Has God forsaken us?” she said.
Brother White lifted his hand and said, “Hush, the Lord has not forsaken us. He gives us enough for our present wants. Jesus fared no better.” Then Ellen was sorry that she had shown her discouragement. “Yes,” she answered. “And sufferings and trials bring us near to Jesus. The Lord is trying us for our own good. He is stirring up our nest, lest we settle down at ease. Our work is to labor for souls.”
In a few days little Henry was taken ill, and rapidly grew worse. His parents were much alarmed as they saw their baby lying unconscious, with his breathing quick and heavy. They tried all the remedies that they knew, but he still grew worse. They then called in a nurse, who said that she did not think the baby would get well. They prayed for him, but still there was no change for the better. Ellen then realized that she had made the child an excuse for not traveling and laboring for the good of others as much as they had been called to do. Again they knelt and prayed for the life of their little son, promising God that if He would heal the child, they would go wherever they were needed, trusting in Him always.
They prayed earnestly until they felt that a light from heaven was shining upon them, and from that hour the child began to recover.
Not long after they received a call to come and hold a meeting in Connecticut.
Although they had no money on hand to pay the travelling expenses, and hardly enough to buy the food they needed, James replied, “Yes, we will come.” He thought they might save the money to pay for the trip out of what he was currently earning. He was cutting wood for only twenty-five cents a cord. To make it seem still harder, he developed rheumatism, and night after night he was unable to sleep because of the pain. He and his wife both prayed faithfully that God would relieve the pain and give him strength to work; and God did bless him, for he was able to keep on working.
“Wife,” James said one day, “we must keep five dollars on hand and not use it. Even if we get short of food, we must not use that. It will be used for our travel.”
Sometimes they did lack food, but still they were determined to save the money for the upcoming trip. When James went to collect his money from his boss, he was given ten dollars. With this they purchased their tickets and a little necessary clothing to make the journey to Connecticut.
After the meetings were over, they remained in Connecticut for a while, and James looked for another way to earn money with which to buy food and clothing and other necessary supplies.
He was offered work in the harvest field cutting grain, and although it was harder work than he was accustomed to, he started in at once.
James White had suffered an injury that made it hard for him to do work which required much walking. When he was just a young man, he was cutting heavy timber, when the ax slipped and severed a piece of his ankle bone. The tendons had grown stiff, and he had not been able to bear his weight upon the heel of his right foot for years.
When he went to the field to work, he found that there were several other men working there who were rough and irreligious. They did not like the idea of having a preacher working with them.
“He’s not used to this hard work,” one of the men said. “Let’s run him down and drive him from the field.”
Of course, James did not know of their feelings, but he himself realized that this heavy work was too hard for him. Before he had gone into the field he had prayed that God would give him the strength to do the work and earn the money.
When he entered the field, the men all waited to start the work together. They each were given a long scythe and were told to cut a swath across the field. They were to work, one following the other, so that each would begin his strip of grain where the other left off. The men put the minister in the lead. This was the hardest place, for the leader had to keep ahead of all the others and set the pace for the mowers.
Brother White began and cut a wide swath, swinging his scythe as fast as he could. The other men who followed him took narrower swaths, and kept as close to him as possible. When James felt them coming closer, he tried to work even faster than he had before. Across the wide field they all worked. At the far end, after a short rest, they turned and started back, with the minister still ahead of the men. When they reached the starting place, the men threw down their scythes.
“White,” their leader said, “do you mean to kill yourself and us? We give up this trial. We thought you were a minister, and could not know by experience how to handle a scythe, but we give you the credit of being far ahead of us and the best mower we ever saw.”
“And you have taken no beer or liquor this hot day,” added another of the rough men.
“When you came into this field as a worker, we were angry,” went on the leader. “We didn’t want a minister in our company, and we agreed to give you the hardest place. You have gone steadily on, and we have had to give up. We crown you as a leader and a captain in the field.”
James quietly thanked them for the compliment, but he felt that he had One to thank whom they did not love
trust, or serve—the God of heaven.
That day’s work proved to be a blessing in more ways than one. It broke down the prejudice of the men of the neighborhood that they had felt toward him because he was a minister, and the severe strain of working so hard in the heat of the day relaxed the tendons of his ankle, and he found himself bringing his heel down squarely on the ground. After this he stepped so firmly no one would ever imagine he had walked with a limp for many years.
A few weeks later an urgent invitation came for Mr. and Mrs. White to go to New York and hold a series of meetings among the believers.
“What can we do?” Ellen White asked her husband. “We have no money to pay our fare to New York.” Together they prayed that God would open the way.
“I know what I will do,” exclaimed James White, after they had finished praying. “I’ll buy a scythe and work again in the harvest field. I can earn enough money there to take us to the meeting.” This time he worked with Adventist neighbors, and during the next few weeks earned forty dollars, which was used in making the trip to New York to attend the meetings.
And so it was. Even though he was not in the best of health, he loved the cause of God so much that James worked hard physically in order to pay their travelling expenses in the early stages of their labour. The Lord blessed Him with the required strength when he went forward by faith. If the Lord asks something of you, He will provide the strength and the means to fulfil the task. Do not be discouraged at outward circumstances. Trust God, He will never ask something of you that you cannot perform with His help.