For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe Psalm 27:5

• DAY 5 MORNING PSALM 24-26

• DAY 5 EVENING PSALM 27-28

Wesley made no secret of the fact that the main purpose of his mission to Georgia in America was to advance his own spiritual life. 'My chief motive , to which all the rest are subordinate, ' he said ‘is the hope of saving my own soul.'.. ' I hope to learn the true sense of the Gospel of Christ by preaching it to the heathen… They have no comments to construe away the text. ' They are as little children, humble, willing to learn, and eager to do the will of God; and consequently they shall know of every doctrine I preach whether it be of God. By these therefore I hope to learn the purity of the faith which was once delivered to the saints.' Wesley was headed for disillusionment and he soon experienced it.

Wesley did not formally resign from his post in Georgia. He fled from a situation which largely through his own clumsiness, had got completely out of control. He was actually faced with legal proceedings, because he had repelled Sophy Williamson from Holy Communion. The matter was not helped by the fact that he had been involved with her in an unhappy love affair before her marriage. The whole atmosphere in Georgia was now extremely uncongenial , and eventually Wesley left in disgust and indignation. The official list of early settlers recorded his ignominious departure with the short entry 'run away'. .. When Wesley set foot back in England he had reached a critical point in his life and ministry. Up to now, his entire spiritual journey had been simply a refined way of trusting in his own works. He now saw at last the futility of this course. Yet where could he turn? He did not know. But God had it all in hand.

Wesley realized that he had come to the end of chapter. That was the positive contribution of the Georgia experience. He realized that his ecclesiastical rigorism had led him to a dead end. It had also brought him into contact with Moravians , with their emphasis on justification by faith and the need for personal conversion. It forced him to admit that his own attempt to earn salvation had gained him nothing but near despair.

• Lord we pray for those in our country who are trapped in sin, those in our country who are living behind closed doors, living lives of quiet desperation, who do not know that there is a free gift of salvation that does not need to be earned, that has been paid for at a price. You are our deliverer, who rescues us from all our troubles who saves us from all despair. Rescue us and save us. We pray for the end of one chapter and the beginning of the new. Turn the page Lord …and do a new thing in our land!

REFERENCES

Skevington-Wood, A. The burning heart John Wesley: Evangelist,Cliff College Publishing, 56-57