After William Carey was well established in his pioneer missionary work in India, his supporters in England sent a printer to assist him. Soon the two men were turning out portions of the Bible for distribution. Carey had spent many years learning the language so that he could produce the scriptures in the local dialect. He had also prepared dictionaries and grammars for the use of his successors.
One day while Carey was away, a fire broke out and completely destroyed the building, the presses, many Bibles, and the precious manuscripts, dictionaries, and grammars. When he returned and was told of the tragic loss, he showed no sign of despair or impatience. Instead, he knelt and thanked God that he still had the strength to do the work over again. He started immediately, not wasting a moment in self-pity. Before his death, he had duplicated and even improved on his earlier achievements.
Philippians 1:14 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.
Some lives indeed have that strength and vigor to impact generations. Luxuries and riches can only lure this generation, but the tough experiences and the willingness to go through the hardships encourages many. Paul while being in prison was so joyfully going about his life and ministry that the ones outside were surprised and indeed encouraged. People thought that prison would be the end of it and his ministry has ended forever. But to the utter surprise, he stood strong to serve the Lord in prison and this became a great lesson for the those without the chains to serve Christ more effectively.
When we go through hardships and difficult situations in life, we tend to neglect God and His presence. We forget that He is with us and can lead us through if we trust Him. When we are able to stand firm during a loss and a tragedy, surely we become a great testimony and an encouragement to those around us. Thus we can make an impact unto generations even while being in prison and the darkest of situations. Let’s keep going.
One day while Carey was away, a fire broke out and completely destroyed the building, the presses, many Bibles, and the precious manuscripts, dictionaries, and grammars. When he returned and was told of the tragic loss, he showed no sign of despair or impatience. Instead, he knelt and thanked God that he still had the strength to do the work over again. He started immediately, not wasting a moment in self-pity. Before his death, he had duplicated and even improved on his earlier achievements.
Philippians 1:14 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.
Some lives indeed have that strength and vigor to impact generations. Luxuries and riches can only lure this generation, but the tough experiences and the willingness to go through the hardships encourages many. Paul while being in prison was so joyfully going about his life and ministry that the ones outside were surprised and indeed encouraged. People thought that prison would be the end of it and his ministry has ended forever. But to the utter surprise, he stood strong to serve the Lord in prison and this became a great lesson for the those without the chains to serve Christ more effectively.
When we go through hardships and difficult situations in life, we tend to neglect God and His presence. We forget that He is with us and can lead us through if we trust Him. When we are able to stand firm during a loss and a tragedy, surely we become a great testimony and an encouragement to those around us. Thus we can make an impact unto generations even while being in prison and the darkest of situations. Let’s keep going.
Stanley Thomas Isac
Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at Pastorstanleytisac@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment