James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
William Carey is often attributed the title ‘father of modern missions’. He was born into a desperately poor family, and consequently obtained a poor education. He was apprenticed as a shoemaker, but simply didn’t make the grade. He tried his hand at running a school, but it was a flop. His marriage was an unhappy one, during which his daughter died early – an event which left him bald for life. He was a deeply committed believer, but his subsequent attempt at pastoring a small church lessened his chances of ordination, because by common consent his sermons were too boring for words!
Despite such an apparently flawed track record, Carey formed a missionary society, with himself as the first candidate setting sail to India. This feeble individual translated the Bible into Bengali, Oriya, Marathi, Hindi, Assamese and Sanskrit, as well as portions into 29 other languages. At one stage, he lost ten years’ translation work in a fire – what did he do? He just started again. Then there were his contributions to literature, education, literacy, agriculture, getting infanticide outlawed and more. This man’s obedience and perseverance were used to impact the lives of literally millions of people.
Before dying, knowing that one of his supporters wanted to write about his life, Carey conveyed his wishes: “If one should think it worth his while to write my life, I will give you a criterion by which you may judge of its correctness. If he gives me credit for being a plodder, he will describe me justly. Anything beyond this will be too much. I can plod. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything.”
Lord, give me strength today to plod where necessary. Amen!
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