Sunday, March 22, 2020

Ministering Gifts



“As each one has received a gift,
minister it to one another, as
good stewards of the manifold
grace of God.”
    1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV)

I love the older hymns and the stories behind them.  Recently, at church we sang a hymn that I was not familiar with called  Jesus, I am Resting, Resting.  I thought I’d pass on to you what I learned about the hymn because it illustrates how God entwines our lives to bring us comfort and encouragement.    

Jean Piggott composed this hymn in 1876 and a few years later, her brother Thomas Piggott went to China as a missionary.  In a letter while there, Thomas wrote: “I am, I can truly say, more grateful every day for the opportunity of serving Christ, and I believe this to be the only true and sober view of life’s realities. The work pressed home now, will make all the difference a few years hence.” In 1901, Thomas was executed at the age of 53, along with a number of other Christian missionaries, in the Boxer Rebellion. J. Hudson Taylor was greatly saddened at the loss of his friend and fellow missionaries and apparently, “Jesus, I am Resting, Resting” was a great comfort to him during this time.

It’s wonderful how God used the writing of this song by one Christian to minister to missionaries and other Christians over the years.  Because Jean Piggott was faithful to use her God-given talent of composing, others were comforted and encouraged in difficult circumstances, and God was glorified. We have each been given different gifts and God expects us to use them to minister to others.  Even if what we do seems small and unimportant, the important thing is to stay faithful and we may later find out that it had an impact on someone else.

No comments:

Post a Comment