Judson on Submitting to God’s Providence
“If the Lord has other purposes, it becomes us meekly to acquiesce, and willingly to sacrifice our dearest hopes to the Divine will. We rest assured that, in either case, the perfections of God will be displayed.”
“Our obedience was not to be yielded grudgingly; that it must be a cheerful acquiescence in all that God had done, and a sincere, careful study of the indications of his providence afterwards, without any suspicion that our ways were hedged by anything harder or thornier than his love and mercy.”
God’s action is, “-the wisest and best possible; a result which if we could see the end from the beginning, would call forth our highest praise. O, slow of heart to believe and trust in the constant presence and overruling agency of our own almighty Savior.”
Why does God permit disappointments for the Christians? “Because infinite wisdom and love would have it so. Because it is best for us and best for them and best for the cause and best for the interests of eternity that it should be so. And blessed be God – we know it and are thankful and rejoice in it. Glory to God.”
“But with the assurance that, having humbly submitted himself to the Divine teaching, he has the approval of Christ, he is prepared for any event. With this he can labor; by this he can die. If brought into difficulties, from which there seems no escape, he feels that he has gone thus far in obedience to his Lord’s command; that he is doing his Master’s work; and that, whatever befalls him, all is well: it is the will of Christ.”
“He will order all things well, and we can safely trust our future to His hands.”
Adoniram Judson (1788-1850) was a Baptist missionary to Burma (now Myanmar) from America. He worked with Luther Rice to establish the Baptist Triennial Convention (the forebear of the Southern Baptist Convention and the Northern American Baptist USA denominations). He also translated the Bible into Burmese and established some of the first churches in Burma.
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