Rushing to the Children’s Hospital in San Jose, Costa Rica, I found Anne, a missionary from New Zealand, standing with her dress splattered with blood.   She hugged me and said, “The Lord gave him to us and He took him away”. Her two-year-old son had been crushed by a bookshelf.

Ian and Anne Taylor were 8,000 miles from their nearest family member, studying Spanish so they could minister in Colombia.

Two days later Ian preached his own sons funeral.   He and Anne stood at the door and consoled more than 250 missionaries and Christian who attended the service.

Sunday afternoon my wife and I took them over to one of God’s true saints, Elizabeth Strachan.

Ian said, “Yesterday morning before the funeral we did not think we could make it to the service, but on our knees, God spoke to us and we recognized how much He loved us.”   Ian then said something that has stayed with me for more than forty years.   “We decided that even if we could we would not change anything at the expense of our new and deep relationship with our Lord”.   To have their son back in exchange for the new and closer walk with their Lord would be too great a sacrifice.

That evening I was scheduled to preach in a church and I asked Ian if he wanted to preach in my place.   He preached out of Thessalonians, saying that his son was not dead just asleep in the arms of his Lord.   In the invitation a young girl gave her life to Christ.

Ian and Anne did not know that their testimony of the love of Christ in a time of great sadness and pain would impact literally thousands of people in sermons that I have preached.

My Life-Changing Lesson:

They showed me that God's word is true, I to can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.   See Philippians 4:13