4 ways Hudson Taylor attained God’s peace amidst heavy burdens
Who doesn’t want the peace of God in their lives? The 1932 book, Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, finishes with practical help for those of us searching for serenity. Below are four encouragements to help us get there.
1. Roll your burden on the Lord.
One time, Taylor was asked, “How can you whistle, when your friends are in so much danger?”
He replied, “Would you have me anxious and troubled? That would not help them, and would certainly incapacitate me for my work. I have just to roll the burden on the Lord” (p. 213.)
2. Try rejoicing the next time something challenging happens.
Taylor writes, “He is helping me rejoice in our adverse circumstances, in our poverty…. All the difficulties are only platforms for the manifestation of His grace, power and love.”
Sure enough, very shortly after he wrote this, inland China miraculously opened up to the mission, and suddenly, new workers and funds were needed, which God provided in miraculous ways.
3. See peace as a necessity, not just a privilege.
An Episcopalian minister who hosted the visiting missionary wrote of him, “He was an object lesson in quietness. Whatever did not agitate the Saviour or ruffle His spirit, was not to agitate him.”
He told Taylor, “Your letters are pressingly important, mine of comparatively little moment. Yet I am worried and distressed, while you are always calm. Do tell me what makes the difference.”
“The peace you speak of is, in my case, more than a delightful privilege, it is a necessity,” he replied. “I could not possibly get through the work I have to do without the peace of God ‘which passeth all understanding’ keeping my heart and mind.”
4. Follow the Philippians 4 way of getting God’s peace.
The Scripture undergirding all this wisdom from Hudson Taylor is a passage we should commit to memory:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7, NIV).
After we “roll our burdens onto the Lord,” as Taylor puts it, God promises to give us his peace. This verse shows us how: by prayerfully, thankfully laying our requests at his feet, and entrusting them to him.
Laying down,
Tom Harper
Founder, BiblicalLeadership.com
LinkedIn profile | My books
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