6 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.
7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:6-8
1857
was a difficult year for Hudson Taylor. He had been a missionary to China for
four years when he contracted smallpox. By November of that year, Taylor was
recovering physically, but financially he and his associate, John Jones, were
in dire straits. All their funds had been depleted in taking care of the needs
of their ministry. Now Taylor and Jones were facing starvation. They had
petitioned churches back in England for support, but in those days it took
weeks for letters to travel the thousands of the miles across two continents.
There was no telling when or if they would get any help from home.
The
two missionaries started looking around their meager house for objects of value
to sell. Taylor wrote, “How the LORD was going to provide for us we knew not; but
over our mantelpiece hung a scroll upon which the following was written in the
Chinese language— Jehovah-Jireh, ‘The LORD will provide’—and looking upon that
promise kept us from doubting God’s ability to meet our great need.”
That’s
when Taylor spotted the one object of value in their home that would sell
easily—a cast iron cook stove. If they could get the stove across the river and
into the nearest city, they could surely sell it as scrap to a foundry.
With
no food in their cupboards, they loaded their stove on a horse drawn cart. They
hadn’t made it far when they reached the river they had to cross. A violent
storm had blown through the countryside a few days prior, and the river was
turned into a rushing torrent, washing away the bridge that would take them to
the other side. Unable to pass, the two turned the cart around and walked many
miserable miles back home.
Upon
arriving back at their home with the stove and the cart, the men went into
their kitchen and scraped the last of spoonfuls of cocoa from a can, mixed it
with water and drank it down. Then they informed one of their Chinese servants
they were going into their study to pray and were not to be disturbed because
they were petitioning God to do a miracle, then they shut the door and began
crying out to God.
The
men prayed late into the night. Suddenly, their desperate vigil was interrupted
by a knocking on the door. The Chinese servant burst into the room, “Teacher,
Teacher, here are letters.” No mail was expected, but here it was delivered to
their house in the middle of the night. When they opened them up, they found
several checks from their ministry partners in England. There was enough money
inside to supply their needs for the next year. The checks were sent months in
advance without prior knowledge of Taylor’s need. The folks in England didn’t
know of Taylor’s plight, but God did—and He was right on time!
Taylor
later wrote concerning the importance of prayer to his ministry: “I have found
that there are three stages in every great work of God: first, it is
impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.”[1] -DM
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