The NIV 365 Day Devotional
Splendor
Mary was born into a dirty and crowded working-class district in Scotland in 1848. Her father sometimes threw her out on the streets when he arrived home drunk, and by age 14 she was working ten-hour shifts at the textile mill to support her family.
But God exchanged Mary Slessor’s misery for something better when she began working at a city mission in Dundee. While there, she was inspired to sail to West Africa as a missionary to Calabar. Mary was no richer in Africa than she had been in Scotland—in fact, she now made her home in a mud hut. Throughout her 39 years in Africa, she never married. She was not even always in good health: Malaria and boils plagued her.
Yet, despite the pain she suffered, God displayed his splendor through Mary and her work. She found joy in rescuing children from ritual murder. She discovered pleasure and purpose serving as a peacemaker with the Okoyong people. And she adopted a family. “If anyone may testify as to the reality of his presence and power, it is surely this unworthy servant,” she wrote to a friend. “He and his Word are a living bright reality for sure…I mean to glorify him and to magnify his grace.”
The Israelites also had their share of misery. The Assyrians swept them from their homeland, destroying all they loved and everything familiar. However, their story, like Mary’s, didn’t end in misery. In fact, Isaiah predicted joy was ahead. God planned to exchange their mourning and despair for gladness and praise. Why? So that once rescued, God’s people would be living demonstrations of his splendor.
We each suffer our own miseries, and we think things will never change. Perhaps you’ve experienced burdensome memories, a scarring divorce or a difficult diagnosis. However, can you sense any hope? Can you see God on the march, gradually transforming the pain into something you can endure? You never know; up ahead you just might see the possibility of joy. Like the Jews in exile, and like Mary Slessor in Scotland, you can trust that, despite the present pain, God has plans for your future. He is able to use whatever you go through today to display his splendor through you tomorrow.
Reflection:
- How does this passage bring hope to your times of misery?
- How does God’s ability to transform your grief into joy demonstrate his power?
- How might God be planning to display his splendor through your current difficult circumstance?
Taken from the NIV Women’s Devotional Bible.