The Rector of Epworth Who Could Not Have Imagined

Samuel Wesley served as rector of a small parish in Epworth, England, for nearly forty years. He baptized babies, buried the dead, and preached faithfully to a congregation that rarely exceeded a few dozen souls. Twice his rectory burned. His debts landed him in prison. His parishioners once stabbed his cattle in protest. By any measure of his own era, Samuel Wesley was an unremarkable country parson who would be forgotten within a generation.

He was not forgotten. God had other plans for the house of Wesley.

Samuel's sons John and Charles carried their father's faith into coal fields and open squares, igniting a revival that swept two continents. Charles wrote over six thousand hymns still sung in churches worldwide. John organized a movement that would grow into denominations numbering tens of millions. The obscure rectory in Epworth became a pilgrimage site — not because of what Samuel built, but because of what the Almighty built through him.

This is the heartbeat of God's promise to David. David wanted to construct a house for the Lord, but God reversed the blueprint entirely: "I will establish a house for you." The kingdom would not rest on David's architecture but on God's covenant faithfulness, extending through his offspring and enduring forever.

Sometimes the most lasting things God builds through us are the things we never live to see completed. His promises outlast our blueprints every time.