The Cost of Following

 Hudson and Maria Taylor met in China where both served as missionaries for two different organizations. People in powerful positions tried to prevent their love from blossoming and a romantic relationship from forming. God had other plans. He orchestrated their meeting and eventual marriage. 

Taylor had some very deep convictions. One of them was that they should trust God to meet their missionary needs once they married. The biography written by their son Howard is a fascinating account of God's intervention in their lives. Tales of faith and God's continual faithfulness. 

One story is when townspeople rose up in mass against the missionaries. Lies were spread that dozens of children were missing because the foreign devils captured and killed them. A mob attacked the house trying to break down the door. Taylor went out to try and calm the mob but to no avail. Maria was forced to jump out the back off a veranda into the waiting arms of another missionary. He missed catching her and she injured her leg very badly. 

They also dealt with whining, complaining, and division among their missionary recruits who found life in China much harder than they anticipated and longed to return to the easy life back home. Taylor lived under the constant pressure of praying in more funds from month to month. 

Nothing could have prepared them for the ultimate sacrifice they would be called to make. The death of two of their children who were buried in China soil. They wept but did not blame God or complain. They accepted the fact that their children were safe in the arms of Jesus and sought solace in the fact that one day would be reunited. They continued their evangelism labors without delay. 

They understood the cost of following Jesus. There is a cost. It may be different for each of us than it was for the Taylors. Our costs may be minimal in comparison. What cost are we willing to pay in our following? Financial sacrifice? Enduring criticisms? Overcoming adversity? Relocating? Enduring sufferings on multiple fronts? Persevering through intense persecution? Where do you draw the line? Where and when would you tell Jesus no further. I am not willing to pay this price for following You? 

I hope the answer for all of us is that there is no line. Like the Taylors, we will follow to our last breath. No matter what pain we have to endure, what sacrifices we are called to make, and what personal costs to us. Will we follow? Matthew 16:24