The Mother Who Prayed While Her Son Read the Tract

In June 1849, seventeen-year-old Hudson Taylor wandered into his father's library in Barnsley, England, looking for something to pass the time. He picked up a gospel tract from a basket, intending only to read the story and skip the moral. Meanwhile, seventy miles away, his mother was visiting friends. That afternoon, she felt an inexplicable burden settle over her — a conviction that she must pray for her son's salvation. She locked herself in her room and refused to come out until she had assurance from God that the work was done.

At that same hour, young Hudson read the phrase "the finished work of Christ." The words cut through his casual skepticism. He fell to his knees in that quiet library and surrendered his life to the Lord who would eventually send him to China, where he would serve for fifty-one years and see hundreds of missionaries follow.

When his mother returned home days later and Hudson shared his news, she smiled and said she already knew. She had known before he told her.

Nathanael sat beneath his fig tree, perhaps praying, perhaps wrestling with Scripture, thinking himself utterly alone. Then Jesus said, "Before Philip called you, I saw you." The Almighty does not discover us at the moment of our conversion. He has been watching, working, and preparing long before we ever lift our heads and recognize His voice. The call always begins before we hear it.