When He Came There Was No Light, When He Left There Was No Darkness

"When He Came There Was No Light, When He Left There Was No Darkness" by Walter Bright 

 

The title of our post today is actually story of one man’s life. A. W. Milne was a missionary around the 20th century. He was part of a group of radical missionaries who history has dubbed – “One Way Missionaries.”

What these men and women of God did was pack all their belonging in a coffin, buy a one way plane ticket to wherever they felt called by God. Many parts of Africa and other places around the world were known in those days and many years after as the “white man’s graveyard." These men and women of God knew they would never return home when they decided to go to the mission field.

As for A. W. Milne, he Knew that most of the missionaries before him died a martyr’s death, still he accepted the call of God to minister to a tribe in the New Hebrides. Hebrides is a group of 500 Island in the northwestern coast of Scotland. There he lived for 35 years. God’s timing and favor had given him a break through among these people and there he enjoyed favor.

But A. W. Milne would never return home. After many years of fruitful labor for the Lord, he passed and was buried in the middle of the town. The inscription on his tombstone could not have been more clear: “When he came there was no light, when he left there was no darkness."

How does this speak to you today?

Here are some ways you might be blessed:

God can help you succeed where others have failed.

God’s timing is crucial to any move of God.

Sometimes our harvest comes at the sacrifice of others.

Sometimes kingdom life involves risks, danger, and even death.

Are we willing to go even if there is a real possibility that we could die?

What kind of mark or legacy will we leave on others if we are willing to sacrifice all for Christ?

How much do we want to see the kingdoms of the world become the Kingdom of our God and Christ?