Hudson Taylor Kind Of Trust
‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:31-33 NKJV
Hudson Taylor was one of Jesus’ most powerfully effective Missionaries. He lived and served Jesus in the 1800’s. As a teenager in England, he heard the call of Jesus to go to China and serve Him there. He learned through faith situations to trust God for everything and He was always faithful to meet the seemingly impossible needs and even exceed the needs with His abundance.
Lessons learned he set out for China. There he faced hopeless situations, civil war, famine and every kind of struggle in seemingly hopeless situations. Yet Hudson Taylor had learned to trust in the Lord and not in the circumstances. He always kept 2 sayings posted on his wall. One was “Ebenezer – God has been with you”, and the other, “Jehovah Jireh – God is your provider”. Year after year he experienced God providing for him and for those he had committed to feed and provide for. Even when there was no hope, his hope never diminished and he simply trusted and believed in Jesus’ faithfulness. Jesus always provided. He was never anxious because He had learned that Jesus always provided!
At the end of Hudson Taylor’s life and service in China, he had over 800 missionaries serving there and a harvest of over 125,000 Chinese Christians.
It did not matter to Hudson Taylor what needs might present themselves, or how impossible those needs might appear because he trust God and He knew that his faith moved his blessing ahead of him to always meet the need. He may not see it at that moment, but Jesus always provided. Jesus instructs us to not be anxious or worry about the future. Don’t worry about your future and what needs might be before you. Your faith sends your blessings in Jesus forward to meet your tomorrow need. Trust Jesus and watch your faith move before you. Look to Jesus before giving yourself over to fear and doubt, seek Him with the earnestness of your heart and mind and all these others things will be added unto you. The results that Hudson Taylor experienced in life were not exclusive to him. The same spiritual principles hold true for each of us if we have the boldness of Hudson Taylor to truly seek Him first and simply trust.
J Todd Hostetler