J Hudson Taylor

Somewhere in time, this week, May 21^st in 1832, J. Hudson Taylor was born.  He was born to Christian parents in Barnsley England.  As he grew up, his focus was on making money and having a good life.  His family wanted him to take his faith more seriously, but he didn’t feel that was necessary.  When he was seventeen years old, he found a gospel tract and the message on that tract caused him to rethink his choices.  He turned his life over to Christ from that moment on.

I found a few interesting stories about J Hudson Taylor.  As he was growing up, his father had a passion for reaching people in China with the gospel.  When Hudson became a Christian, he took up the cause.  Before heading out to the mission field, he decided to study medicine.  He went to work in a very poor section of London, for a very busy doctor.  The doctor would forget to pay him, regularly.  One day, he was a little low on funds. He had one silver coin in this pocket.  He didn’t want to ask the doctor for his wages, he wanted to trust the Lord.  He knew as a missionary, he would need to trust the Lord for everything.  He went to visit a widow, she was very poor and they were on the brink of starvation.  He was praying for her, but he felt like a hypocrite.  He had a silver coin, he could help them.  Even though he needed to pay his own rent, he gave his money to the woman. 

Philippians 4:19 (NIV) “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

Hudson learned to totally rely on the Lord for everything.  When he was twenty-one years old, he sailed for China and founded the China Inland Missions.  During his life, over eight hundred men and women would answer to call to serve in China. He had many opportunities to trust the Lord to provide all their needs and God never disappointed.

Here is another Hudson Taylor story.  When he was sailing to China, the ship he was on was heading towards a reef that would cause it to crash.  The current pulling it was so strong, the ship could not change course. They needed a wind to catch the sails and move the ship.  In addition to this, they could see the native cannibals on the beach with their lite torches, waiting for the crash in a pretty festive mood.  The Captain of the ship let them know that hope was lost.  Hudson and his traveling companions went below to pray for a miracle.  They believed God would send a wind.  When they instructed the sailors to ready the sails, the sailors thought they were crazy.  There were not crazy, God sent a wind out of nowhere that allowed the ship to steer to safety.

I think total surrender to God is sometimes hard.  We have more faith in what we can control.  It’s hard to give your last dime to someone in greater need when you remember your own debts and obligations.  It’s hard to believe that when you are on a collision course, God can step in and change it just because we asked.  God wants us to totally surrender, so He can be totally in control.

I believe that J Hudson Taylor is an example of someone who surrendered all and let God take control. If we had his measure of faith, image the mountains we could move through our faith.

For more information on J Hudson Taylor - http://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/biotaylor.html

Chris Tomlin - White Flag (Official Music Video) Passion 2012 from chris-tomlin on GodTube.