In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:6.
During the night season I was specially moved upon by the Spirit of God. My soul had been drawn out in earnest supplication to God. I was distressed on account of the backsliding of His people.
While lying in bed, unable to sleep because of the burden resting upon me, I was pleading with the Lord. I fell asleep, and in the night season I was taught of God. My guide said, “I have a work for you to do. You must speak the words given you by the Lord. After these words have been spoken, your duty here is done. You are not required to enter into details before individuals, whatever may be their position or work, if they do not recognize the voice of God in the message He gives you to bear in His name. All your efforts to remove their doubts will be of no avail if they gather the clouds of darkness about their souls. If you enter into particulars, you weaken the message. It is not you speaking, but the Lord speaking through you. Those who want to know the will of God, who do not desire to follow their own will and judgment, will be easily entreated. They will be ready to discern the right way.
“The whys and wherefores are concealed from you; yet speak the words I give you, however painful it may be to you. The ways in which God leads His people are generally mysterious. You have asked to know God’s way. Your supplication has been answered. God knows better than you do what is good and essential for His children. He never leads them otherwise than they would wish to be led, if they were able to see as clearly as He does what they must do to establish characters that will fit them for the heavenly courts.”
The people whom God is leading must venture out upon His word. They must walk forward by faith. Truths have been committed to them which they must obey. The work of God is aggressive. No one can stand in a neutral position and yet be a soldier in the Lord’s army. God has commands for His people, and if they keep in close connection with Him, they will hear His voice, and will keep in step with their Captain. They will go forward in the conflict to fight the battles of the Lord. But those who place themselves in an indifferent, noncommittal position will gain no victories.— Manuscript 29, November 21, 1890, “Diary.”
Reference: E.G. White, "The Upward Look," p. 339.
