Book Reviews

Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret

by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor, edited and revised by Gregg Lewis

Find the riches of a life abandoned to God! Hudson Taylor is stirred to read China’s millions with the gospel, and learns to lean entirely on God through life’s trials and suffering. From one who became characterized by his perfect peace:

“But how inconsistent unbelief always is! I had no doubt but if I prayed for fellow-workers, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, they would be given.

“…But I had not then learned to trust God for keeping power and grace for myself, so no wonder I could not trust Him to keep others who might be prepared to go with me.”

—early 1865

“I strove for faith, but it would not come; I tried to exercise it, but in vain. Seeing more and more the wondrous supply of grace laid up in Jesus… the fullness of our precious Savior, my guilt and helplessness seemed to increase…. What was I to do?

“…the Spirit of God revealed to me the truth of our oneness with Jesus as I had never known it before. ‘Ah, there is rest!’ I thought. ‘I have striven in vain to rest in Him. I’ll strive no more. For has not He promised to abide with me—never to leave me, never to fail me?’ ”

—letter to his sister in 1866

“My need now is great and urgent, but God is greater and more near. And because He is what He is, all must be, as is, all will be well. Oh, my dear brother, the joy of knowing the living God, of seeing the living God, of resting on the living God in our very special and peculiar circumstances!”

—letter to a close friend in 1872

Originally shared by his son and daughter-in-law, the edited and revised version weaves the narrative and personal letters into a compelling story. We value this book because its focus is on what God can do through a life fully submitted to Him, rather than the man himself. It is a spiritual inspiration to the last page.