Keep Plodding And You’ll Succeed

When William Carey first began considering the possibility of going to India as a pioneer missionary, his father pointed out that he possessed no academic qualifications for the job. Carey answered, “I can plod.” And he did. When he went to India, this was his typical day: he arose at 5:45 a.m. to read a chapter in the Hebrew Bible and have private devotions. At 7:00 a.m., he led family prayers in Bengali, read Persian with a tutor and a portion of scripture in Hindustani. After breakfast, he translated Sanskrit into English. At 10:00 a.m., he went to college to teach until 2:00 p.m., then translated into Bengali until dinner time. After an early supper, he translated into Sanskrit and studied the Telugu language until he preached to an English congregation at 7:30 p.m. About 9:00 p.m., he returned to translating for two hours, wrote to a friend in England, read a chapter from his Greek New Testament, and then finally went to bed. Carey is credited with doing more than anyone else in taking the message of Christ to India and establishing the church there. And he did it because he was a plodder! Here are two scriptures plodders stand on: (1) “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9 NKJV). (2) “My dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless” (1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT). These scriptures could be reduced to five words: keep plodding and you’ll succeed.