The Work You Have to Do and a Giveaway!
After fourteen years, all that Adoniram Judson had to show for his work were the graves of his wife and children.
Adoniram had set sail from Salem, Massachusetts on February 19, 1812 with Ann, his young bride, and little else.
Once in Burma, Ann and Adoniram immersed themselves in Burmese life. They learned the language and adapted to the culture. Adoniram worked to translate the Bible, build relationships, and share the gospel with the Burmese who would visit with him at his zayat.
But, Adoniram came under suspicion during the war between the UK and Burma. He was violently arrested and spent 17 months in two Burmese prisons -- half-starved, iron-fettered, and sometimes hung upside down with his shoulders barely touching the ground.
With Adoniram in jail, Ann was left to give birth by herself. While this would have been challenging enough, she contracted a fever that she could not shake. This little girl was her third baby. She'd lost one to miscarriage, and her second son, Roger, died when he was only eight months old.
Even though Ann was sick with smallpox and spotted fever and nursing a baby, she was determined to get her husband out of jail. Ann met with official after official, and literally wore herself out.
Eventually, Adoniram was released. But within three months, Ann died. Six months later, Adoniram stood at his wife's graveside burying their daughter.
Adoniram was alone in Burma with the people who had arrested him, tortured him, and contributed to the death of his wife and daughter.
But, he stayed.
He stayed and he prayed that God would keep him there long enough to translate the Bible into Burmese and build a native church.
His work on earth was not yet done.
This is the same situation that Paul is in. He's in house prison in Rome. And he really, really, really wants to be with Jesus. He is ready to die because being with Jesus would be far better than anything this earth has to offer. But, he still has work to do.
Can you relate?
Do you have hard days, hard seasons when all you want to do is set loose the moorings from this life and be with Jesus?
Are there babies you have buried?
Friends who have been lost?
Is the pain of this world so great that you just want to depart and be with Jesus?
Are you tired of fighting and ready just to set sail?
God knows your days. Before you were born, God wrote the story of your life, your faith. He knows your pain. Just the way that God saw Hagar, he sees you. And somehow now in the mystery of love and grace and fall and choice and sovereignty ... God is writing your story, perfecting your faith.
If you are still on this earth, you still have work to do. Good work. Important work.
Adoniram had a Bible to translate. Paul had people to encourage.
I have a husband to love, children to nurture, and women to teach. And I have laundry to fold, and meals to fix, and dishes to wash. Good work. Important work. Meaning into mundane work.
If we're still on this earth, you and me ... we still have work to do.
- What would it be like if we, women of valor, truly partnered together to advance the kingdom of heaven in the world today?
- What would it be like if we stopped competing and comparing and started calling out beauty in one another, and in our children?
- What would it be like if we validated one another's work and made it a personal mission to see every single woman of God step into her personal place of glory-drenched service?
- What would it be like?
Today, consider the work that God has for you to do. Do it with an eye toward heaven. Do it with confidence that regardless of how mundane it feels, with Christ, it is dripping with glory. Do it with awareness that you are God's masterpiece created for good work.
Because, if we are still on this earth, we still have work to do.
This week I'm giving away my friend Tara Furman's latest Bible study, Created for a Purpose`. Created for a Purpose was written to help us make a difference in our corner of the world. We all want to make a difference.
Yesterday I asked you to comment, link, and subscribe to enter the drawing. But, from a few emails and conversations, I understand that I might need to create a tutorial to help you do this. I don't want to create a tutorial.
So, to enter the drawing, just leave a comment. We'll work on the technical stuff later. :)
My son, Josiah, will draw a name on Saturday. I'll post the winner on Monday and send Created for a Purpose right out to you.
We are at the Riverside. Just like Lydia and her friends gathered at the riverside, we're gathering here by walking verse-by-verse through Philippians. I'm glad you joined me today. And I hope you'll be back. If you are here for the first time and would like to see where we've been, just click at the Riverside. If you'd like to be sure that you don't miss a post, please subscribe. In the little box up-and-to-the right, just put your email address. And, every morning, Monday-Friday, at the Riverside will arrive in your inbox.