Day 13: Robert Jermain Thomas - “God’s Control”
“The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
Introduction
Robert Jermain Thomas was a Welsh missionary most famously known as one of the first Christian missionaries to bring God’s Word to Korea. During the mid-1800s, Korea was known as the Hermit Kingdom as it was largely isolated from the Western world. Despite such an obstacle and other difficulties that should have made his missionary work near impossible, Thomas allowed himself to be used by God to bring the gospel to the Korean peninsula.
God’s Control
Thomas’ missionary journey began in China with the tragic death of his wife due to a miscarriage. Thomas was heartbroken by this tragedy, but trusted that everything was in God’s control as he wrote the words:
“I am sure I have your sympathy and prayers that no trial, however grievous, should separate me from this glorious cause, but rather thank God for her peaceful, painless end and say, ‘The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.’”
He remained in China and met a few Korean refugees who ignited within him a passion to spread the gospel to Korea. He studied the language and made his first trip to Korea in 1865, and remained there for a few months as he shared physical copies of God’s Word with the Korean people. In 1866, he returned to Korea as a translator, but his ship was unfortunately attacked by Korean government soldiers. In the final moments of his life, he shared as many Bibles as he could with anyone nearby until he was executed by a Korean soldier.
Many copies ended up in the hands of Korean locals who used the pages of the Bible as wallpaper until they eventually read the pages and came to know Christ through them. One copy ended up in the hand of Thomas’ executioner, who also later came to know Christ through God’s Word and Thomas’ actions. This eventually sparked a spiritual awakening in Korea, and the city of Pyongyang was even nicknamed the “Jerusalem of the East” for a time.
Reflection
Through the hardships, through the moments that we do not fully understand, do we trust that God is in full control of our lives? Even when God takes away from us, can we say “blessed be the name of the Lord”? Let us trust that our lives, our pains, our future, everything is in God’s mighty and capable hands.