Disappointment - His appointment!

A Christian friend who has been working, as a church planter, in a particular area of France, has been asked by the organisation, with which she has been working, to return to the area in which she had formerly worked. She writes: "This has obviously been difficult for me to digest and I'm still processing and trying to make sense of this "detour" that God has me on."

This is not a unique experience! Sometimes, the disciple of Jesus must not only endure "fiery trials", but also encounter baffling circumstances that may seem to be a hindrance - even although (s)he is earnestly seeking to do God's will.

Some two hundred years ago, Rev. Barnabas Shaw experienced such difficulties. Appointed as a Methodist missionary, he had hoped to serve God in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Suddenly, there was a change of plan and he was directed, instead, to minister in Cape Town. When he arrived there, however, the British Governor, who was hostile to the Gospel, forbade him to preach to the indigenous nomad tribes. Shaw, and his wife Jane, were very disappointed. Like the psalmist, their spirits were overwhelmed with sorrow (see Ps.142:3). They were so desirous of serving the Lord yet, twice in just a few months, their high purposes and plans had been frustrated. With the little money they possessed, they bought  yoke of oxen and a cart, loaded up their goods, and headed towards the interior of the country, to set up a mission outside the Governor's jurisdiction.

On the twenty-seventh day of their journey, they met a company of Khoikhoi (aka Hottentots) - the non-Bantu indigenous nomadic cattle-farmers of South Africa. To their astonishment, they discovered that these peaceful people were trying to make their way to Cape Town. They were, the Shaws were informed, searching for a missionary  who, they had been told, was being sent to teach them "the great Word of God"! That their paths should cross in such dense jungle, has been described, by the American Baptist preacher and writer, A.J.Gordon, in his book The Holy Spirit in Missions as "such a juncture of Providence as has rarely occurred in the history of missions." A.J. Gordon, by the way, also wrote a number of hymns, including the well-known "My Jesus, I Love Thee".

The chief of the Khoikhoi led Barnabas and Jane some two hundred miles farther inland, where the faithful missionaries were able to establish a spiritual outpost for the Lord. Barnabas also taught the Khoikhoi to cultivate the soil, as they had previously never grown any type of crop. Their only source of food was the cattle with which they travelled South, in their constant search for fresh pastures. The disappointments that the Shaws has experienced had really been the over-ruling hand of God directing them into His perfectly appointed way.

When our trust is in Him Who says: "... I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all My purpose,’" (Is.46:9-10), then we may be certain that, although He may lead us in what we perceive, at the time, to be a roundabout way, He will always lead us aright.