Wesley's Struggles

"Tuesday, 22.—Observing much coldness in M ----‘s behaviour, I asked him the reason of it. He answered, “I like nothing you do. All your sermons are satires upon particular persons, therefore I will never hear you more; and all the people are of my mind; for we won’t hear ourselves abused.

“Besides, they say, they are Protestants. But as for you, they cannot tell what religion you are of. They never heard of such a religion before. They do not know what to make of it. And then your private behaviour: all the quarrels that have been here since you came, have been ‘long of you. Indeed there is neither man nor woman in the town who minds a word you say. And so you may preach long enough; but nobody will come to hear you.”

He was too warm for hearing an answer. So I had nothing to do but to thank him for his openness and walk away."

It would appear that Wesley went to minister to a place where he wasn't gifted to minister to. I imagine that it was very discouraging for him to hear such scathing remarks in regard to his ability to clearly communicate the Gospel to these people. How hard must it have been to hear "And so you may preach long enough; but nobody will come to hear you".

It makes me wonder if this was a mistake Wesley made by impulsively embarking to Georgia without any prayerful consideration, or whether this was an event that God wanted Wesley to go on so that he could experience difficulty and be a better preacher because of it. Either way, in the broad scope of Wesley's life, it was probably a good endeavor to go on, being that it seems to bring him back down to Earth in regard to his viewpoints on salvation and ministering to others.