February 5. John Calvin. Born into a devout Catholic family, Calvin was sent off to study philosophy and law. By the time he was twenty-four, he embraced Protestantism and worked for changes in the Roman Catholic Church. He wrote The Institutes of the Christian Religion, a foundation of Protestant systematic theology. And he wrote commentaries on every book in the New Testament except Revelation and on most books of the Old Testament. He was thoroughly convinced of the majestic sovereignty of God.
Some people have said that Calvin was cold, unapproachable, unemotional, and reluctant to speak, but those who knew him well understood that façade shielded a man who felt deeply and was especially anxious for the state of the world and of men’s souls. Calvin himself said, “There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice.”
Our physical weaknesses never have to limit our spiritual strength.
Calvin’s body was failing him. It had been for a long while now. Even on his best youthful days, Calvin had always leaned toward the frail side.
Now as an older gentleman closer to the sunset of life rather than the sunrise, just getting out of bed proved difficult. Migraines, lung hemorrhages, gout, and kidney stones had rendered Calvin’s physical condition bleak at best. But his mind was as strong as ever.
Calvin had been working his way through the entire Bible. He was writing a commentary on nearly every book. When he was no longer able to write, he finished many of these by dictating to his assistants. Ministers throughout the city would come and visit with him with the intent of encouraging a dying leader, but they were often the ones who left inspired.
When his body provided enough strength to sit up and go out, Calvin went to church in a chair carried by friends and students. But he wasn’t there to sit in the service. He was there to lead. His assistants would place Calvin in his chair behind the pulpit, where he would preach and even conduct baptisms. His faith and determination willed his body into work.
“But if I say, ‘I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name,’ then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot endure it” (Jeremiah 20:9 NASB).
His soon-to-be successor, Theodore Beza said, “It is true that not only ministers, but friends too, urged him not to wear himself out by coming and working like this. But he would make excuses and say that it did him good and that time would hang too heavily on his hands if he stayed indoors all the time.”
When he was unable to go out to church, he would bring church to himself. Some days, Calvin’s bedroom filled to capacity while he lay in bed and read from the Bible and his notes.
Even when it was clear that this simple act of reading aloud was deteriorating his condition, no one dared stop him. He was a man on a mission.
On occasion, friends would voice their worries about the daily regimen’s effect on his health. But his response was always, “What! Would you have the Lord find me idle when He comes?”
“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10 NIV).
How can God use your weakness today to reveal His strength? Our physical weaknesses never have to limit our spiritual strength.
Gordon, Bruce. Calvin. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009.
Beza, Theodore. Life of Calvin. Lindenhurst, NY: Great Christian Books, 2012.
Maseko, Achim Nkosi. Church Schism & Corruption: Book 3 Reformationists. Lulu, 2008.
Story read by Daniel Carpenter