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Today I Learned

Many people know about William Carey. He is often called the father of modern missions. He suffered a succession of unbelievable obstacles (including an unsympathetic wife who later became insane). Yet, in all of this managed to  translate all or parts of the Bible into forty languages and dialects of India. 

What you may not know is that William Carey’s sister is equally an example of one who persevered. Almost totally paralyzed and bedridden, she lay on her bed in London and prayed for all the details and struggles of her brother’s work in far off India. 

Few people can identify with the perseverance of William Carey in either the incredible obstacles he faced or the amazing tasks he accomplished. But we should identify with the perseverance of Carey’s sister. She persevered in doing the will of God in her invalid state. 

She could not do much (at least what we tend to think of as much), but she persevered in doing what she could, in doing the will of God for her. And because she persevered in prayer, her brother was strengthened and enabled to persevere in his missionary labors in India. Carey’s sister did more than bear cheerfully her paralysis; she persevered in doing the will of God in spite of it.

(Source: Jerry Bridges,  Trusting God, pp. 200-201)

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