wealth, and we were still compelled to struggle with poverty and great discouragement. Excessive labor, care, and anxiety, a lack of proper and nourishing food, and exposure to cold in our long winter journeys, were too much for my husband, and he sank under the burden. He became so weak that he could scarcely walk to the printing office. Our faith was tried to the utmost. We had willingly endured privation, toil, and suffering; yet our motives were misinterpreted, and we were regarded with distrust and jealousy. Few of those for whose good we had suffered, seemed to appreciate our efforts. We were too much troubled to sleep or rest. The hours in which we should have been refreshed with sleep, were often spent in answering long communications occasioned by envy; and many hours while others were sleeping we spent in agonizing tears, and mourning before the Lord. At length my husband said: “Wife, it is of no use to try to struggle on any longer. These things are crushing me, and will soo…
"In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness."
Both passages describe hardship, weariness, and suffering endured in ministry. The EGW passage details labor, care, anxiety, lack of food, exposure to cold, and discouragement, while 2 Corinthians 11:27 lists weariness, painfulness, watchings, hunger, thirst, cold, and nakedness. The thematic overlap is strong and supports the connection.
"But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,"
The EGW passage details afflictions, necessities, and distresses experienced by her and her husband, mirroring the hardships Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 6:4 as part of his ministry. The connection is thematic, highlighting the shared experience of suffering in service.
"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake."
The EGW passage describes suffering and misrepresentation, aligning with the persecution described in Matthew 5:11. The connection is thematic, focusing on enduring hardship for one's beliefs.
"The next morning, while at family prayer, I was taken off in vision, and was shown concerning these matters. I saw that my husband must not give up the paper; for such a step was just what Satan was trying to drive him to take, and he was working through agents to do this. I was shown that we must continue to publish, and that the Lord would sustain us; that those who had been guilty of casting upon us such burdens would have to see the extent of their cruel course, and come back confessing their injustice, or the frown of God would be upon them; that it was not against us merely that they had spoken and acted, but against Him who had called us to fill the place He wished us to occupy; and that all their suspicion, jealousy, and secret influence was faithfully chronicled in heaven, and would not be blotted out until everyone who had taken a part in it should see the extent of his wrong course, and retrace every step. 1T 89.2"
"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."
The EGW passage speaks of the Lord sustaining them in their work despite opposition, echoing the sentiment of casting burdens on the Lord and being sustained. The connection is more than just a passing similarity.