With Lessons from Nineteenth Century Missionary Hudson Taylor
INTRODUCTION
Ever look at your life and wonder Lord, is this it? Will I ever be somebody? You’re not alone.
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Even if we’re already serving God in good ways, the desire for personal praise and recognition can tempt us. Unless we’re perfect–which we won’t be until Jesus returns–we’ve all imagined what our day in the spotlight would be like. Or maybe we’re just plain hungry for a little thanks.
In today’s world, personal accomplishment gets all the accolades. Economic stability seems elusive or unsatisfying. It’s hard for us to put God’s will before worldly success. Sometimes:
- God doesn’t let us do something, so we try to do it ourselves.
- And sometimes we “labor in obscurity… while He lets others get the credit.”
This second statement is from 19th century missionary Hudson Taylor’s sermonette, A Higher Calling. Taylor, an Englishman, devoted his life to serving the people of China and challenging other Christians to put the Lord first.
In each chapter of this devotional, we’ll compare a sentence or paragraph of Taylor’s words to Bible verses and explore everyday applications. This will give a clearer picture of God’s blueprint for our lives, and help us understand the difference between His will and ours.
When we turn our ideas of success over to Him, we can truly experience:
- Inner peace
- Less self-pressure to accomplish things
- Joy in the Lord
- Improved relationships
With this in place, it reflects on everything we do. Improvement will come not only in our earthly relationships and how we see ourselves, but also our relationship with the Lord.
CHAPTER THREE:
LEAVING OURSELVES BEHIND
Then He said to them all: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
Many of us are familiar with the hymn I Surrender All. Churches often use it as an invitation for people to come forward and accept Christ as Savior. Since the whole congregation is asked to sing, we really need to reflect on what we’re singing:
All to Jesus, I surrender; All to Him I freely give.
I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live…
All to Jesus I surrender, humbly at His feet I bow.
Worldly pleasures all forsaken, take me Jesus, take me now.
I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.1
Does this mean we must give up every enjoyable thing? No. God wants us to have fun–wholesome hobbies, family events, gratifying work, things that make us laugh; and yes, some reward or recognition is healthy.
The world doesn’t need to see worried, unsatisfied Christians. But our joy in the Lord is more important to Him than the often misconstrued word happiness. Pursuing worldly ideas for success can get us out of tune with God’s will. When we tell God we love Him and are ready to live just for Him, we should mean it. He says “Let your yes be yes and your no be no” (Matthew 5:36, James 5:11-13).
Hudson Taylor accepted Jesus as his Savior when he was a teenager. Three years later, he left his comfortable home in Yorkshire, England for a mission trip to China. Once there, he developed an unwavering desire to bring Christ to the Chinese people in remote, hard-to-reach areas.
Taylor was shocked to find other European missionaries living in Shanghai’s high society. They had stopped working among the Chinese people and taken well-paying jobs as government interpreters. They dressed like noblemen and sipped afternoon tea in luxurious officials’ quarters.
In spite of this, Taylor decided to dress and live like the poorer Chinese people in order to become immersed in their culture. This excerpt from A Higher Calling shows his commitment to God’s task:
If God has called you to be truly like Jesus in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility. He will put on you such demands of obedience that you will not be allowed to follow other Christians. In numerous ways, He seems to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.
Although we should be under a pastor’s shepherding in a church body, we ultimately must follow Christ so we don’t get caught up in false doctrine and become easy prey for the devil.
In First Corinthians 1 and 3, Paul explains that some people were following the disciple Apollos, some Cephus, and others even Paul himself. He concludes that each person has his own assigned task, will receive his own rewards, and should follow Christ, not men.
One terrific example of forsaking worldly success for God’s will is the true story of Olympic runner Eric Liddell, depicted in the movie Chariots of Fire. Liddell was a dedicated Christian missionary but also an award winning runner. During the 1924 Olympics, his hundred-meter championship race was scheduled for a Sunday. Liddell knew he was widely acclaimed as a sure thing for the gold medal. But he decided not to run on a Sunday because it would disgrace God.
God calls His people to be in many types of activities and occupations, because He needs us everywhere. But within his calling, Liddell felt this would be dishonorable. Later that week, he won a gold medal in the four hundred-meter race–a competition he wasn’t expected to win.
Paul talks about running the spiritual race in Philippians 3:13-14: “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
CLOSING PRAYER:
Lord, help me discern Your open doors and close those outside of Your will. I surrender my dream for success to You, knowing it may be granted tomorrow or taken away and replaced with Your best. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
© 2011,Sheryl Young
MountainView Publishing (Pocket-Size Books), a division of Treble Heart Books
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without express permission from author or publisher.
ISBNs: 978-1-936127-81-8
1-963127-81-4
LLCN: 2011940058
Scripture is taken from The New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Hudson Taylor’s A Higher Calling is in public domain.
This is a convenient, pocket-size or purse-size devotional with 17 short chapters that can be read one per day, or at the reader’s own pace. Find “God Am I Nobody” here:
- At Treble Heart Books in paperback or e-book: http://www.trebleheartbooks.com/MVSherylYoung.html
- At Amazon.com:
- Paperback – http://www.amazon.com/God-Am-Nobody-Sheryl-Young/dp/1936127814/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329862262&sr=8-1
- Kindle – http://www.amazon.com/God-Am-I-Nobody-ebook/dp/B006E88XRO/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1329862262&sr=8-1
- Barnes & Noble Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/god-am-i-nobody-sherylyoung/1107956290?ean=2940032890683&itm=1&usri=god%2c+am+i+nobody
- Smashwords e-book: http://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=god+am+i+nobody
Other books by Sheryl:
Sheryl Young has written one previous book, from her own experience with becoming a Jewish believer in Jesus, What Every Christian Should Know about the Jewish People (subtitled): Improving the Church’s Relationship with God’s Original Chosen Nation.
Available at Amazon in paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Every-Christian-Should-Jewish-People/dp/141411074X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330795382&sr=1-1
At Wine Press Publishing in paperback: https://www.winepressbooks.com/What-Every-Christian-Should-Know-About-the-Jewish-People/products/1852/9781414110745
1 thought on “GOD, AM I NOBODY?-Yielding Our Desire for Success to God’s Will for Our Lives- Excerpt”
Thanks so much, Living Better at 50+ for publishing this excerpt of my little pocket-size devotional! I hope and pray that someone was encouraged by its words, and the lessons I’ve learned.