The simple gospel...

I have been reading the biography of Adoniram Judson, the first missionary sent from America, and although there are many very compelling events from his life one struck me yesterday as I was reading an excerpt from his third wife's journal.

"As he sat down it was evident, even to the most unobservant eye, that most of the listeners were disappointed. After the exercises were over, several persons inquired of me, frankly, why Dr. Judson had not talked of something else; why he had not told a story...
On the way home, I mentioned the subject to him.
"Why, what did they want?" he inquired; "I presented the most interesting subject in the world, to the best of my ability."
"But they wanted something different... a story."
"Well, I am sure I gave them a story... the most thrilling one that can be conceived of."
"But they had heard it before. They wanted something new of a man who had just come from the antipodes."
"Then I am glad they have it to say, that a man coming from the antipodes had nothing better to tell than the wondrous story of Jesus' dying love."

Here is a man who has buried four children, two wives, been imprisoned, tortured, captured by pirates, waited six years for the first convert, sat in the courts with kings, seen great revival, completely translated the Bible into a foreign language from the Greek and Hebrew, and was the only original survivor of the mission outpost. His testimony? 1 Cor 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

I thought it strange too with all of the emphasis on the miraculous in the church today, that there was not one mention of a miraculous healing in 505 pages. God chose to glorify Himself through this suffering servant. I'm not saying God doesn't heal, but what I am saying is that He of His own free will may chose not to if it fulfills His purposes. If He can get more glory from my life through suffering, regardless of what kind, who am I to argue with the creator of the universe. Am I promised my full inheritance while living in this body?

What about you? Does the story of God's redemption bore you? Do you need funny, or compelling stories to keep your eyes open during the Sunday service? Are you praying for the miraculous and forgetting about your neighbor? Do you feel that's its your right as a believer to walk in perfect health, to never endure suffering? Is your freedom more important than God's? Who are you living for?