February 15, 2010
“We did not come to China because missionary work here was either safe or easy, but because He had called us. We did not enter upon our present positions under a guarantee of human protection, but relying on the promise of His presence.”
--Hudson Taylor
How often we limit our service to the Almighty God by making life decisions based off fear or discomfort. We reason to ourselves that we surely cannot do such and such a work or go to such and such a place because we may be placing our families and ourselves in harms way. God surely would not want us to do something that would take us away from the amenities (oops…necessities!) of life that we are so accustomed to. We long to have the vibrant, genuine relationship with the Lord that we read so much about in missionary biographies and in books about the saints of old, but we are unwilling to leave the warm fireside at home and go out into the darkness in order to spread the light of the Gospel. When given the choice, we would rather dabble in temporary pleasures and comforts instead of being spent for something that will not fade away.
This is the pitfall, we all must be careful of because it is so easy to seek comfort and safety and avoid pain and heartache. Who in their right mind would go to China, leaving family and friends (not to mention the promise of a successful medical career) behind knowing you may never return or see them again upon this earth? Who would delight in spending the best years of his life in a foreign land, spending strength and health on a work that at times seemed to be unraveling at the seams, laying children and Beloved in the earth for the sake of the ministry, and sending his surviving children back home to not see them for years at times? Hudson Taylor did all this and more, not because he had some fascination for suffering or hardship, but because He loved Christ and willingly followed Him to the ends of the earth. He knew, believed, and acted upon the confidence that this life is not all there is, but that something so much greater is yet to come. He heard and felt the cries of the lost souls in China and layed all on the alter to take them the Gospel. Was He crazy? Did he have a death wish? Did he care so little for his family? Only God knows the depth of his sorrow, the tears he shed as he watched his wife and little ones slip away, the heartache he felt as he looked at a photograph of his children who were London, wishing he could be with them, or how his heart yearned to comfort the other missionaries he was leading as they walked through deep darkness and difficult trials.
This man of God had not come to China because it would be easy or painless. He knew the cost would be great, but he was committed to following Christ wherever He would lead him. He did not press on because he knew he would be protected from harm or that his family would not face danger, but he pressed on because he knew and believed that God would always be with him and would never leave or forsake him.
And should this not be how we live our lives? Following hard after Christ is not safe nor is it comfortable and any who think it is or should be are greatly mistaken. Christ did not come into the world to bring peace but a sword---He has sent us out like sheep among wolves. We will face hardship and difficulty---we have been promised persecution. But another promise shines forth, giving strength and endurance to all lovers of Christ who follow Him no matter what and that is the promise of His presence: Immanuel---God with us. He will never leave us nor forsake us; He is always with us and in this, we should press on, basing our every decision off this promise and not our fear.
“We did not come to China because missionary work here was either safe or easy, but because He had called us. We did not enter upon our present positions under a guarantee of human protection, but relying on the promise of His presence.”
--Hudson Taylor
How often we limit our service to the Almighty God by making life decisions based off fear or discomfort. We reason to ourselves that we surely cannot do such and such a work or go to such and such a place because we may be placing our families and ourselves in harms way. God surely would not want us to do something that would take us away from the amenities (oops…necessities!) of life that we are so accustomed to. We long to have the vibrant, genuine relationship with the Lord that we read so much about in missionary biographies and in books about the saints of old, but we are unwilling to leave the warm fireside at home and go out into the darkness in order to spread the light of the Gospel. When given the choice, we would rather dabble in temporary pleasures and comforts instead of being spent for something that will not fade away.
This is the pitfall, we all must be careful of because it is so easy to seek comfort and safety and avoid pain and heartache. Who in their right mind would go to China, leaving family and friends (not to mention the promise of a successful medical career) behind knowing you may never return or see them again upon this earth? Who would delight in spending the best years of his life in a foreign land, spending strength and health on a work that at times seemed to be unraveling at the seams, laying children and Beloved in the earth for the sake of the ministry, and sending his surviving children back home to not see them for years at times? Hudson Taylor did all this and more, not because he had some fascination for suffering or hardship, but because He loved Christ and willingly followed Him to the ends of the earth. He knew, believed, and acted upon the confidence that this life is not all there is, but that something so much greater is yet to come. He heard and felt the cries of the lost souls in China and layed all on the alter to take them the Gospel. Was He crazy? Did he have a death wish? Did he care so little for his family? Only God knows the depth of his sorrow, the tears he shed as he watched his wife and little ones slip away, the heartache he felt as he looked at a photograph of his children who were London, wishing he could be with them, or how his heart yearned to comfort the other missionaries he was leading as they walked through deep darkness and difficult trials.
This man of God had not come to China because it would be easy or painless. He knew the cost would be great, but he was committed to following Christ wherever He would lead him. He did not press on because he knew he would be protected from harm or that his family would not face danger, but he pressed on because he knew and believed that God would always be with him and would never leave or forsake him.
And should this not be how we live our lives? Following hard after Christ is not safe nor is it comfortable and any who think it is or should be are greatly mistaken. Christ did not come into the world to bring peace but a sword---He has sent us out like sheep among wolves. We will face hardship and difficulty---we have been promised persecution. But another promise shines forth, giving strength and endurance to all lovers of Christ who follow Him no matter what and that is the promise of His presence: Immanuel---God with us. He will never leave us nor forsake us; He is always with us and in this, we should press on, basing our every decision off this promise and not our fear.
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