The Old Man Who Could Finally Rest

In 1789, a young William Wilberforce stood before the British Parliament and declared that the slave trade was a moral abomination that must end. He was twenty-nine years old, burning with conviction, and utterly unprepared for how long the fight would take.

For forty-four years, Wilberforce pressed his cause. He endured mockery, death threats, and defeat after agonizing defeat. Friends urged him to move on. His health deteriorated until he could barely stand. Yet every session of Parliament, he returned — or sent others in his place — convinced that the God who had opened his eyes to this evil would bring justice in His time.

On July 26, 1833, word reached the frail, seventy-three-year-old Wilberforce that the Slavery Abolition Act had passed its final reading. Every enslaved person in the British Empire would go free. He whispered to a friend, "Thank God that I should have lived to witness a day in which England is willing to give twenty million pounds for the abolition of slavery." Three days later, he died.

Simeon had spent his own lifetime haunting the temple courts, clinging to a promise from the Holy One that he would not taste death before seeing the Messiah. When Mary and Joseph carried their infant through the gate, that old man's arms finally held what his heart had always known was coming. Sometimes faithfulness means waiting an entire lifetime for the three days — or the single moment — that make it all worth enduring.