The Secret of Victory

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 9, 1900

The Secret of Victory

The moment we willfully disobey God in any particular, we cut off the supply of grace, and soon we find ourselves shorn of strength, and fall an easy prey to the enemy. As we come into harmony with God, there are wrong habits to be corrected, and appetites to overcome. The Holy Spirit will bring them to our attention sooner or later; and if we yield a ready and willing obedience, we shall find victory easy and continuous; but if we draw back from the sacrifice, every carnal appetite will seem intensified, and we shall find that the longer we dally, the harder will be the struggle for deliverance. If, after putting a thing on the altar, promising God we will give it up, we again indulge in it, we shall most assuredly bring defeat into our lives. Sin in the camp brought defeat to the hosts of Israel. I hope that some dear soul may profit by my experience. On this very point I have had line upon line, and precept upon precept, and I trust I have learned my lesson perfectly. “Whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy” unto the Lord; “it shall not be redeemed.” An appetite renounced is never ours again.

The secret of victory lies in the will. When we heartily will to obey God, faith comes easy and natural. Let us settle it, then, that when we have been shown the evil of any habit, we will enter into a lifelong covenant with God that that habit shall be corrected. Not that we will do it, but that we will fully and freely consent that he, by his own blessed power, shall utterly root out and destroy every such hindrance to our spiritual development; and having done this, let us confidently trust him to do it.

Our Father will not force us to yield on any point. He waits for us to consent to have him purify and cleanse us. He lets us fall again and again, until, having learned how utterly impossible it is to serve two masters, we shall turn, heart-sick and weary, to him who is mighty to save.

I love the truth, and do all I can for it. I live on a farm two miles from town. I am giving an orphan boy a home, and am trying to be a mother to him. He has been with me over seven years. I also furnish a home for an aged sister while she wishes to stay. I take the REVIEW AND HERALD and Sentinel of Liberty, and after we have read them, I give them away. I have sold the special numbers of the Signs of the Times, and am scattering the tract entitled “An Open Letter.” I also do all I can in nursing the sick. I do not have the spare time that townsfolk have, but I do the most of my missionary work on Sunday. My husband is not in the truth; and when he goes to town on Sunday, I go with him, taking with me a roll of papers and tracts, to distribute. This almost always opens the way for conversation concerning the truth. Please pray for my husband, that he may give his heart to God.

We would like to come into communication with many more such women as this. Surely the same opportunities lie within the reach of all.