FROM the Forthcoming Book
MAN ON A MISSION ~ The supernatural life of Francis Xavier
From the Chapter entitled an Abandoned Heart
By Ian Johnson
A man abandoned in Love with Jesus
Francis took Jesus at his word, which was, if he should go away it would be better than ever for his people, for God would walk with them more than in all the ages past. His promise was;
“It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I do not go away the comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” John16:7
“He that believes in me the works that I do shall he do also”. John 14:12.
Jesus has gone to the Father in Heaven and the Holy Spirit has come to take his place; to carry on his uncompleted task, to work in the midst of His church in signs and wonders and gift of the Holy Spirit The trances, visions, revelations, Miracles and supernatural manifestations seen in the Life of Francis Xavier are meant to be the normal experiences of every believer in the supernaturally founded, supernaturally filled, and supernaturally directed church of Jesus Christ.`
The important thing to remember is that even in the midst of all these miracles, and wonders, Francis still suffered from the frailty of being human. To anyone who reads between the lines of the story of his life the fact of his humanness is evident. In his own day, and among some of his peers, he was by no means the great success we, looking back, can see him to have been. On the contrary, we are not without proofs, both internal and external, that to many at least of his contemporaries he was thought a failure. He had staunch friends who knew him well, and his capacity for friendship is manifest in every letter that he wrote, still there is, throughout his life, a certain isolation and loneliness which cannot be mistaken. At times he seems almost to cry out against it; when, for instance, he writes to all his brethren in Europe, saying he would gladly write to each one if he could; when in his moments of distress he addresses a single faithful follower in India; then he leaves all alone and hides himself away to seek the one Friend who, he knows, would never fail him. Jesus was his only true companion in the East and to him he clung relentlessly
In his letters we have evidence of his own deep conviction that he was himself of little worth. By nature highly strung and sanguine, he suffered from strong reactions; endowed with talents and gifts beyond the ordinary, he was weighed down with the littleness of men around him, blocking his way at every turn; a man of broad horizons and boundless ambitions, he seemed forever tempted to depression and despair, and to surrender every task he undertook. The real greatness of the man must surely lie in this, that he did what he did in spite of every discouragement, from without and from within. If Jesus gave him an instruction he carried it out with passion and zeal despite his circumstances.
This zeal and passion led him in an ecstasy of love for his Jesus. It seems at times his heart would burst with the joy of knowing him. As he filled his soul again and again in these times of set apartness, the stage was set for the next season of miracles, preaching to the lost and serving the poor and sick wherever he found himself.
IAN JOHNSON
www.papelim.org.nz
ianjohn@xtra.co.nz
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