I was recently reading about William Carey, the great missionary to India back in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. He was a pioneer of the missionary movement, someone for whom I have a lot of respect and admiration (can you have those things for someone who is deceased?). He is probably most known for saying,
I read that Carey made that bold proclamation in a sermon he preached. It was his deduction of what Isaiah 54:2-3 was saying.
Carey also said, “The future is as bright as the promises of God.” My future depends not on my location, my culture, my experiences, my background, or my financial portfolio; my future is determined by the promises of God. I am challenged to remember that whenever I am faced with something that seems to contradict what God’s Word says. My future is as bright as the promises of God.
In a letter William Carey wrote to his father, telling him of his decision to go to the mission field, he wrote:
"I hope, dear father, you may be enabled to surrender me up to the Lord for the most arduous, honorable, and important work that ever any of the sons of men were called to engage in. I have many sacrifices to make; I must part with a beloved family and a number of most affectionate friends. But I have set my hand to the plow."
I am blessed and privileged to have set my hand to the plow for the most “arduous, honorable, and important work” of making Christ known in the earth. Setting your hand to the plow is done not only by those who live on foreign soil. You can be engaged in this honorable and important work in your hometown, as you go about your daily life of mothering, working, or serving in a church.
Keep your hand to the plow; don’t look back; fix your eyes on the promises of God; expect great things from the Lord and attempt great things for Him!