The Joy of Suffering
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On Sunday, June 25th, 1865, unable to bear the sight of a congregation of a thousand or more Christian people rejoicing in their own security, while millions were perishing for lack of knowledge, I wandered out on the sands alone, in great spiritual agony; and there the LORD conquered my unbelief, and I surrendered myself to GOD for this service. I told Him that all the responsibility as to issues and consequences must rest with Him; that as His servant, it was mine to obey and to follow Him — His, to direct, to care for, and to guide me and those who might labour with me. Need I say that peace at once flowed into my burdened heart? There and then I asked Him for twenty-four fellow-workers, two for each of eleven inland provinces which were without a missionary, and two for Mongolia; and writing the petition on the margin of the Bible I had with me, I returned home with a heart enjoying rest such as it had been a stranger to for months. (Desiringgod.org)
On Sunday, June 25th, 1865, unable to bear the sight of a congregation of a thousand or more Christian people rejoicing in their own security, while millions were perishing for lack of knowledge, I wandered out on the sands alone, in great spiritual agony; and there the LORD conquered my unbelief, and I surrendered myself to GOD for this service. I told Him that all the responsibility as to issues and consequences must rest with Him; that as His servant, it was mine to obey and to follow Him — His, to direct, to care for, and to guide me and those who might labour with me. Need I say that peace at once flowed into my burdened heart? There and then I asked Him for twenty-four fellow-workers, two for each of eleven inland provinces which were without a missionary, and two for Mongolia; and writing the petition on the margin of the Bible I had with me, I returned home with a heart enjoying rest such as it had been a stranger to for months. (Desiringgod.org)
Because the next year, 1870, was the most difficult of his life. His son Samuel died in January. Then in July, Maria gave birth to a son, Noel, who died two weeks later. And to crown Hudson’s sorrows on July 23, Maria died of cholera. She was 33 years old, Hudson was 38. They had four living children. It’s as though God gave Taylor this extraordinary experience not as icing on the cake of conversion, but as a way of surviving and thriving in the worst of his sorrows.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
Various kinds of Trials
Various kinds of Trials
Trials: 4280 πειρασμός (peirasmos), οῦ (ou), ὁ (ho): n.masc.; ≡ Str 3986; TDNT 6.23—1. LN 27.46 examination, submit another to a test, to learn the true nature or character of (Jas 1:2; 1Pe 4:12); 2. LN 88.308 temptation, trial, given for the purpose to make one stumble (Lk 4:13; Ac 15:26 v.r. NA26)
1tri•al \ˈtrī(-ə)l\ noun[Anglo-French, from trier to try] 15th century
[Anglo-French, from trier to try] 15th century
1 a: the action or process of trying or putting to the proof: test
b: a preliminary contest (as in a sport)
2: the formal examination before a competent tribunal of the matter in issue in a civil or criminal cause in order to determine such issue
3: a test of faith, patience, or stamina through subjection to suffering or temptation broadly: a source of vexation or annoyance
4 a: a tryout or experiment to test quality, value, or usefulness—compare clinical trial
b: one of a number of repetitions of an experiment
Suffering: suf•fer \ˈsə-fər\ verb
suf•fered; suf•fer•ing \-f(ə-)riŋ\ [Middle English suffren, from Anglo-French suffrir, from Vulgar Latin *sufferire, from Latin sufferre, from sub- up + ferre to bear—more at sub-, bear] verb transitive 13th century
1 a: to submit to or be forced to endure 〈suffer martyrdom〉
b: to feel keenly: labor under 〈suffer thirst〉
b: to feel keenly: labor under 〈suffer thirst〉
2: undergo, experience
3: to put up with especially as inevitable or unavoidable
4: to allow especially by reason of indifference 〈the eagle suffers little birds to singular—Shakespeare.〉 verb intransitive
1: to endure death, pain, or distress
2: to sustain loss or damage
3: to be subject to disability or handicap synonym see bear—suf•fer•able \ˈsə-f(ə-)rə-bəl\ adjective—suf•fer•able•ness noun—suf•fer•ably \-blē\ adverb—suf•fer•er \ˈsə-fər-ər\ noun
No other missionary in the nineteen centuries since the Apostle Paul has had a wider vision and has carried out a more systematized plan of evangelizing a broad geographical area than Hudson Taylor.[4]
No other missionary in the nineteen centuries since the Apostle Paul has had a wider vision and has carried out a more systematized plan of evangelizing a broad geographical area than Hudson Taylor.[4]
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
I Pet. 2:20-
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
Heb. 12