By almost every standard known to modern missionary boards, David Brainerd would have been rejected as a missionary candidate. He was tubercular — died of the disease at twenty-nine — and from his youth was frail and sickly. He never finished college, being expelled from Yale for criticizing a professor and for his interest and attendance in meetings of the “New Lights”, a religious organization. He was prone to be melancholy and despondent. Yet this young man, who would have been considered a real risk by any present-day mission board, became a missionary to the American Indians and, in the most real sense became “the pioneer of modern missionary work”.
Jonathan Edwards wrote of him, “And, having put his hand to the plow, he looked not back, and gave himself, heart, soul, and mind, and strength, to his chosen mission with unfaltering purpose, with apostolic zeal, with a heroic faith that feared no danger and surmounted every obstacle, and with an earnestness of mind that wrought wonders on savage lives and whole communities.”
Brainerd did his greatest work by prayer. He was in the depths of the forests alone, unable to speak the language of the Indians. But he spent whole days in prayer, praying simply that the power of the Holy Ghost might come upon him so greatly that the Indians would not be able to refuse the Gospel message. His secret was simple, humble and brought great results. Jonathan Edwards published Brainerd’s diary to be hope and strength to the minister and missionary. After Brainerd’s death, William Carey read Brainerd’s diary and went to India. Robert McCheyne read it and went to the Jews. Henry Martyn read it and went to India. Though it was not written for publication, his diary influenced thousands to yearn for the deeper life of prayer and communion with God, and also moved scores of men to surrender for missionary work.
We are all meant to impact the world in a significant way. One person affects a couple lives for good and another affects thousands for good, yet each work is of equal value because God alone changes the hearts of men and alone initiates the work and gets the glory. Oliver Holmes puts it this way, “every calling is great when greatly pursued”. This is just one of the lessons we gleam from the life of David Brainerd. May we learn this from him and the many other men and women who humbly served and gave their lives for others expecting nothing for themselves in return but to see the face and glory of Christ. There is no other way to live this life and make it out alive. Live like this.