Our Sanitariums by GEO. O. STATES.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Aug 24, 1905

Our Sanitariums

By GEO. O. STATES.

I HAVE been intimately acquainted with the sanitarium work from the very beginning of it, when the old Health Institute was established in Battle Creek. More than twenty years ago I was carried to the sanitarium, hardly able to move hand or foot, and in a few weeks was cured of the rheumatism, and returned to my labor.

If I had been careful to follow the instruction I then received, I doubt not that I would have been saved much of the suffering of the past two years. When I arrived at the Glendale, Cal., Sanitarium about the middle of last May, I was almost a nervous wreck. The constant attendance of my wife had been necessary for months. I was so nervous that even the thought of being left alone in a room at night was unendurable. When Dr. Simpson saw how sad and ill at ease I looked, she sat down and talked so encouragingly that I soon forgot my fears, and rested quite well the first night.

When I first came to the sanitarium, I was subject to spells of bitter weeping, apparently without any cause; I could not prevent my mind from dwelling on some of the unpleasant experiences of the past, nor could I understand why I should be taken from my ministerial work and allowed to endure such suffering.

One day the following text came as vividly to my mind as if spoken: “But he knoweth the way that I take; when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Job 23:10. In a few weeks I was sufficiently improved to attend church; and in one month, when Sister White spoke on the importance of the sanitarium work in the Los Angeles church, I attended, and took down the main thoughts in shorthand.

I have always believed the statement made by the servant of the Lord in 1867 that the health reform was a part of the third angel's message. In my ministry I have transgressed the laws of health, and this has resulted in inability to do public work. Some of my good brethren and sisters have suggested following the instruction of James, but I have felt that all I could do is to ask God's blessing upon his appointed means for my recovery.

In Volume 1 of “Testimonies for the Church,” page 561, the servant of the Lord tells this people: “I saw that the reason why God did not hear the prayers of his servants for the sick among us more fully was that he could not be glorified in so doing while they were violating the laws of health. And I also saw that he designed the health reform and the Health Institute to prepare the way for the prayer of faith to be fully answered. Let no one obtain the idea that the institute is the place for them to come to be raised up by the prayer of faith. That is the place to find relief from disease by treatment and right habits of living, and to learn how to avoid sickness.”

Doubtless mistakes have been made in the management of our sanitariums, but for all that, they are a part of the third angel's message. If many of our ministers could spend a few weeks in one of our sanitariums and see the devotion of the workers, hear the sympathizing prayers offered by men and women day after day for the recovery of the sick, and witness the Lord's blessing upon the helpers, it would be a blessing to them as well as to the sanitarium work.

While it is but natural that those of us engaged in the ministry, should be in earnest in our own special work, yet we must remember that God told us years ago that the sanitarium work is a part of the message, and we as ministers, of all others, should hold up the hands of those who are carrying on this important branch of the message. Since my two months' treatment at the Glendale Sanitarium I have felt a deeper interest in the sanitarium work than ever before.

I have always been a firm believer in the gift of prophecy among us, but since listening to Sister White's talk here in June I have felt as never before to thank the Lord for this gift among us. Her talks were on the importance of small sanitariums in many places. In looking over the eight volumes of “Testimonies for the Church,” I find that the Lord has told us step by step how to carry on this branch of the work. May the Lord bless the devoted workers in all our sanitariums, and may we all support every branch of the message.

GEO. O. STATES.