Hudson Taylor knew his dream of evangelizing in China was filled with perils.
Taylor, who later founded the China Inland Mission, knew he would be pushed beyond his own strength and only God could carry him through.
So, he prepared in England by depending on God to meet his needs through prayer.
His aim was not to test God, but to strengthen his own faith. He was like an Olympic runner who knows he can't win without training hard in advance of the race.
Taylor tells the story in his autobiography written decades after he had finally landed in China in 1854 following a dangerous sea voyage by sailing ship of over five months.
As I mentioned in my last post, Taylor became a believer at the age of 15 following the heartfelt prayers of his mother and sister. In time, he became fascinated with China and was filled with a desire to go there as a missionary.
But first he decided to study medicine to be of practical use when he arrived there. He became an apprentice to a Christian doctor, one step before entering medical school.
The doctor was a kindly man, but forgetful. He started depending on Taylor to remind him when he should be paid.
Taylor had already chosen to give most of the little money he had away to needy people and to God's work in England. He lived mainly on oatmeal and rice. He knew he would likely live on very little in China.
He decided his "spiritual muscles" needed strengthening by relying on God to prompt the kindly doctor to remember to pay him. He would pray and leave this matter in God's hands.
He told himself that, in China, he would have "no claim on anyone for anything - my only claim will be on God".
"How important, therefore," he thought, "to learn before leaving England to move man, through God, by prayer."
But the doctor forgot and Taylor found himself with only a single coin.
The following day, he was spending time sharing the good news in a poor area of London, when he came across a man who told him his wife was dying. He asked Taylor to come with him to his home and pray for her.
He found the woman lying on a bed with four starving children standing by. Then, he began wrestling mentally with giving the man and his family his single coin. He tried to rationalize keeping the money - "such a time of conflict came upon me then as I have never experienced before or since".
The poor man turned to Taylor and begged him to help the family if he could.
Then, Taylor pulled the coin slowly from his pocket and gave it to him. And he was overwhelmed with the joy of the Lord.
The next morning, he received an envelope in the mail and within was a blank sheet of paper containing a coin worth 400 times what he had given away. He did not know who had sent it to him.
And the doctor? Eventually, he remembered he had failed to pay his apprentice.
These answers to prayer - and a series of others in young Taylor's life - were building blocks in his life of faith. He would remember them vividly in later years as he faced other trials.
Taylor, who later founded the China Inland Mission, knew he would be pushed beyond his own strength and only God could carry him through.
So, he prepared in England by depending on God to meet his needs through prayer.
His aim was not to test God, but to strengthen his own faith. He was like an Olympic runner who knows he can't win without training hard in advance of the race.
Taylor tells the story in his autobiography written decades after he had finally landed in China in 1854 following a dangerous sea voyage by sailing ship of over five months.
As I mentioned in my last post, Taylor became a believer at the age of 15 following the heartfelt prayers of his mother and sister. In time, he became fascinated with China and was filled with a desire to go there as a missionary.
But first he decided to study medicine to be of practical use when he arrived there. He became an apprentice to a Christian doctor, one step before entering medical school.
The doctor was a kindly man, but forgetful. He started depending on Taylor to remind him when he should be paid.
Taylor had already chosen to give most of the little money he had away to needy people and to God's work in England. He lived mainly on oatmeal and rice. He knew he would likely live on very little in China.
He decided his "spiritual muscles" needed strengthening by relying on God to prompt the kindly doctor to remember to pay him. He would pray and leave this matter in God's hands.
He told himself that, in China, he would have "no claim on anyone for anything - my only claim will be on God".
"How important, therefore," he thought, "to learn before leaving England to move man, through God, by prayer."
But the doctor forgot and Taylor found himself with only a single coin.
The following day, he was spending time sharing the good news in a poor area of London, when he came across a man who told him his wife was dying. He asked Taylor to come with him to his home and pray for her.
He found the woman lying on a bed with four starving children standing by. Then, he began wrestling mentally with giving the man and his family his single coin. He tried to rationalize keeping the money - "such a time of conflict came upon me then as I have never experienced before or since".
The poor man turned to Taylor and begged him to help the family if he could.
Then, Taylor pulled the coin slowly from his pocket and gave it to him. And he was overwhelmed with the joy of the Lord.
The next morning, he received an envelope in the mail and within was a blank sheet of paper containing a coin worth 400 times what he had given away. He did not know who had sent it to him.
And the doctor? Eventually, he remembered he had failed to pay his apprentice.
These answers to prayer - and a series of others in young Taylor's life - were building blocks in his life of faith. He would remember them vividly in later years as he faced other trials.
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