I Close the Bargain Right Here!

One of my favorite testimonies is of E. Stanley Jones (pictured at right) who worked for many years as a missionary in India. His book, The Unshakable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person, is one of the classics I was raised on as a young Christian. It was in this book that I first began to see that the kingdom of God was the central theme of Jesus' teaching and ministry throughout the first three gospels. In his autobiography entitled A Song of Ascents, Stanley Jones mentioned how his inability to cope with the stress and strain of ministry in his early days made it difficult for him to carry on. As is so often the case with the preparation of God's servants, Jones came to realize that he had come to the end of himself. In what he referred to as his darkest hour, he went to the Central Methodist Church in Lucknow, India, to spend time in prayer.

It was during this time of prayer that God spoke to Stanley Jones by asking, "Are you yourself ready for the work to which I have called you?" Jones' response was simple, yet direct: "No, Lord, I'm done for. I've reached the end of my resources and I can't go on." The Lord's reply to him was: "If you'll turn that problem over to me and not worry about it, I'll take care of it." Later, Jones confessed that his eager reply was, "Lord, I close the bargain right here." Immediately, he got up and knew that he was well, for as he explained later, "A great peace settled into my heart and pervaded my whole being. I knew it was done! Life - abundant life - had taken possession of me." He said, "I seemed possessed by life and peace and rest - by Christ Himself."

This same word comes to us in Philippians 4:6,7 where Paul writes, "Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down" (The Message). The last sentence of verse 7 in The Messsage translation is tremendous, for it says, "It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." This is what happened to E. Stanley Jones and I know it can happen for each one of us as we let Christ take up the central residence of our lives.