The commission Hudson had received was, "go to China," and he was sure it had come straight from the Lord. He knew that in China there were thousands of souls who would die never having heard of the gift of God - unless someone would go to tell them. Hudson Taylor knew no one in China so if he obeyed this call he could look for help only in God Himself. If he ran out of money there he would not have anyone to borrow it from, if he lost his way he would not be able to ask for directions... He could think of all sorts of possible needs and problems but the solution for them all would have to be the same - go to God. If that was how he was going to live he figured he should start practicing right away. He needed to learn to "move men, through God, by prayer alone."
Going to work for Dr. Hardey would be the perfect opportunity to begin. The Doctor was a busy and rather forgetful man.
"Be sure to remind me when your salary comes due, Taylor." He said. His young assistant smiled but said nothing. I will do nothing except pray. God will have to remind the Doctor. It would be the very lesson in prayer and faith that Hudson had been hoping for! The day he was to be paid came and went and then a week passed without the Doctor having remembered that he owed him. Though he only had a single half -crown left the young man refused to waver. He said nothing except to God.
Often on Sunday evenings Hudson would preach to the poor. This week, when he finished his message a man came up to him and asked if he would be willing to come to his house and pray for his wife who was dying. Hudson said he would and the two set out together. The man looked tired and anxious,
"The priest asked eighteen pence to come and I haven't enough to even feed my children!" Hudson did not doubt the truth of the words for he could see the man's thin face and threadbare clothes. When he entered the single room that was the family's home, Hudson found their situation to be far worse than he was expecting. The man's wife lay in bed; the three day old baby beside her was crying. Five other children starred at Hudson and he could see that all of them were starving. Suddenly the half - crown in his pocket did not seem so small. If it were only two shillings and sixpence instead of this half-crown. He thought of how gladly he would have given them part, but as it were he had only two meals left for himself. In His quiet but persistent way the Lord continued to urge Hudson to give them the coin; Hudson's excuses were of little help to him so he tried to put it out of his mind. Taking the lady's hand he began to tell the family of a loving heavenly Father who would care for them, but he could not say very much. The words seemed empty and he felt as if he would choke on them. He knelt to pray, but how could he pray when he was not willing to obey God and help these people who so badly needed it? The father put his hand on Hudson's shoulder,
"If you can help us, for God's sake do!" In Hudson's thoughts a verse followed the father's plea. Give to him that asketh thee. Without further argument he took the single coin from his pocket and pressed it into the man's hand. Once it was done the sacrifice no longer seemed so hard to make. A second verse followed. Give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. Hudson could not contain a smile as he left the house. The money had been lent to God and he was quite sure it would have a good return. The next morning there was a letter in the mail; the envelope had not been marked with any return address. Hudson opened it and dumped the contents onto his table. A pair of leather gloves and a half sovereign. There was no note of explanation. Hudson didn't need one. God had paid him back with good interest! The coin was worth five times that which he had given away the night before!
That money was able to carry Hudson Taylor through the next two weeks. When Saturday came around again, he recalled that his room rent would be due that night. He knew how dearly his landlady needed the money but his mind was made up. I will not say anything about it to the Doctor. I can't! He knelt down and prayed again. Surely God would answer the need. Hudson waited with expectation all morning. The Doctor must say something about it today. His faith was tested with each passing minute of the afternoon but he did not turn from his purpose. Late in the day, Doctor Hardey finally mentioned the subject.
"Is your salary not due yet, Taylor?" Hudson tried to repress a triumphant smile.
"It is overdue some little time, Sir."
"You should have reminded me!" The doctor said. "You know how busy I am. If I had thought of it a little sooner, I would not have sent all the money to the bank this afternoon. I would pay you now if I had the cash." Hudson gave no reply. He had so hoped that he would have the money by tonight! This is surely the hardest test of all! Hudson continued his work in silence until he found a moment to spare. Slipping away to a quiet place he fell on his knees and cried out to God. He rose with an assurance that the Lord would work it out.
Hudson was just closing the books for the day. The sun was setting and his coat lay over the back of the chair ready to be put on, when the Doctor hurried into the room. He was laughing.
This was the first of the many lessons Hudson would learn in relying on God. He was going to a place where he would have no choice but to look to God and he wanted to learn to be dependant upon His faithfulness before he did. David said:
"I will lift up my eyes to the hills - From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth." (Psalm cxxi. 1-2)
Can we join the Psalmist in saying this is where our help comes from? That our eyes turn to God in times of trouble? When many of us turn to God our dependence is only a partial one. We are living with a constant supply of insurance policies backing up our faith. Like Hudson Taylor's half-crown there is often something else we are looking to. Therefore God is not our only source of help. He becomes just one of many solutions and the accessibility of the other options can cause us to depend on them instead of Him.
"But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." (James i. 6-8)
Without even realizing it, many of us have gotten into the habit of either looking for other answers first or retaining them as a back up - just in case God doesn't come through. We doubt God and turn to other answers in addition to Him. North American Christians don't feel in need of a God who answers prayer because we have other sources of help available to us. Leonard Ravenhill was quoted to say, "The only reason we don't have revival is because we are willing to live without it." I would contend that the same could be said of prayer. We can only learn to pray by praying and our faith will only grow as it is exercised, tested, and proven. So if we want to see the power of God in this generation we need to be willing to expectantly rely on His help alone. Walking in faith carries with it a risk. Hudson Taylor was not going to be able to pay his rent and he was out of grocery money, so what if God hadn't come through? This is where the challenge lies, but is it really a challenge? Peter was at risk of sinking and drowning as he walked on the water toward Jesus. Yet it was only when he doubted that He began to sink. "Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him and said to him,“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”" (Mathew xiv. 31) Faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
"If anyone asks me what it means to trust another to do a piece of work for me, I can only answer that it means letting that other one do it and feeling it perfectly unnecessary for me to do it myself. Everyone of us has trusted very important pieces of work to others in this way and felt perfect rest in thus trusting, because of the confidence we have had in those who have undertaken to do it. How constantly do mothers trust their most precious infants to the care of nurses, and feel no shadow of anxiety? How continually we are all of us trusting our health and our lives, without thought or fear, to cooks and coachmen, engine - drivers, railway conductors, and all sorts of paid servants, who have us completely at their mercy, and could plunge us into misery or death in a moment if they chose to do so, or even if they failed in the necessary carefulness? All this we do and make no fuss about it....and we never feel as if we are doing anything in the least remarkable." - Hannah Whitall Smith, The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life (page lxxix.)
We are asked to place our confidence in God Himself and we are given His very character as our guarantee. So why do we feel the need to have a back-up plan? Or someone else to trust in? As Hudson Taylor showed us, being fully reliant upon God is a choice. Any need can become an opportunity to go to our King for help; a chance to see Him proven faithful!
In Christ
quiana
Dearest Quiana
ReplyDeleteThank you for the reminder, that we can have the peace that transcends all understanding by trusting in Him who has always been faithful & always will be. I love the way you listen His Spirit. Mama