The story goes, that when the Cambridge Seven (distinguished young British missionaries who had left their popular sports careers and student lives, to move to China) arrived on those Eastern shores, that they had somewhat of a run-in with their new team leader – Hudson Taylor. Hudson Taylor was well known for his deep commitment to language, and had spent years labouring over various Chinese languages. When these young, zealous missionaries landed in their new, and very foreign homeland, they began to pray that they might receive the gift of tongues so that they could get into ministry immediately, without spending a harrowing amount of time learning Chinese. (And here, all first-term missionaries sigh understandingly…)
However, they were duly rebuked by the wise, seasoned missionary. Hudson Taylor responded to their desire with,
“How many and subtle are the devices of Satan to keep the Chinese ignorant of the gospel. If I could put the Chinese language into your brains by one wave of the hand I would not do it.”
While their approach seemed to be very spiritual, it was in fact quite the opposite. Hudson Taylor knew the benefit of wrestling with language learning, coming to deep understanding of the people and culture. He knew that the process was a positive one, that the Lord intended to do more in these men than to merely give them a functional ability to do some work. For the Creator, the process is an integral part of the formation of the final product.
Ever since mankind was in the Garden, and that fatal first sin was committed, we have tried to shortcut the goals set before us. As with our first mother, we are fickle creatures, seeking always the final product without the process in between. What it would have been, to walk with God, to progressively get to know him, to become like him, and to see the world as he sees it. But instead, she listened to the lie. The lie that the fruit could give her more than that, without a moment of waiting. Even our Saviour was tempted in the wilderness to escape the way of the cross for the kingdoms of the world, for the devil knew this inherent weakness in mankind. We long for the glory, and if we can avoid the cross, all the better.
And this way of thinking permeates our lives.
It’s in the student’s homework, who uses AI rather than try and fail and try again.
It’s in the pastor’s study as he reaches for a commentary before he has long wrestled in prayer, and meditation on the passage until it is deep in his heart.
It’s in the anxiety caused by the phone beeping in our pocket, feeling the need to respond to everyone from everywhere right away.
It’s in the cameras that we constantly hold up to our children’s faces, unable to live in the moment.
It’s in the office where business is driven by resources and outputs rather than relationship.
Better resources, wider accessibility, promises of better productivity, instantaneous gratification. The inability to wait, to wrestle, to struggle.
But this isn’t the design that God has intended.
Lately, I’ve been considering Jacob. A man hell-bent on seizing everything he could by his own cunning. and yet over a period of twenty years, God uses people like Laban to temper his character, and then ultimately would meet Jacob face-to-face, to wrestle him into the place he wanted him to be. Jacob, true to form, would try to wrestle the blessing from God. “I won’t let go until you bless me”. When God was in fact teaching him that he would not let Jacob go, until he had blessed him. Jacob couldn’t wrestle this blessing from God. It would come from God’s own grace.
But what’s encouraging in this encounter, is that it’s so different to how the Lord deals with Abraham. Abraham has no problem following God’s commands, believing his promises etc. His fault lay in trying to give God a helping hand. So, the Lord also spent much time with Abraham, bringing him from encounter to encounter, until, on Mount Moriah, he would yield to God in his old age, and bring his faith and his works into line.
The Lord didn’t wrestle with Abraham. He didn’t tell Jacob to sacrifice his son. Yet over twenty years with Jacob and well into Abraham’s hundreds, God was patiently forming them into the people he wanted them to be. No magic wand, no pre-cast mould to stick them in. No. Like babies struggling through the birth canal to enter life as it ought to be, these two men did not have the option of a spiritual Caesarean section. It would take time, blood, sweat, and tears, to shape them. And the Lord dealt with both in their own way, according to his own timeline.
So often in youthful Christian vigour, we imagine that we can be as close to perfect as possible, in a very short period of time. Just obey the Word! It’s so simple! Why doesn’t everyone just do that?! But then we get knocked around by life, and we realise why. We, like Jacob before us, must be taught weakness. It is almost a prerequisite to true spirituality to enter eternity with a limp. The process is painful, the cross is heavy, the fire is hot. But it is more than just a “necessary evil” that we should try scoot around if possible. Rather the Potter’s wheel, the Goldsmith’s crucible, is the very thing we should desire.
“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
– 1 Peter 1:6-7
What we need are eyes that do not simply look to glory and try to sidestep every character-defining event that is designed to prepare us to enter there. We need eyes that see the necessity of the way of the cross. Minds and hearts that understand that God is intently concerned about how we are formed.
In the words of Andrew Peterson:
“When the earth is new again,
And the children of the King,
Are ancient in their youth again,
Maybe it’s a better thing,
A better thing,
To be more than merely innocent,
But to be broken, then redeemed by love.“
*A beautiful article on this topic is: https://www.christianitytoday.com/2025/05/the-shepherds-way-is-slower/
I encourage all gospel workers, at home or overseas to read it. As well as everyone else!
Imitators of Those 
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