Dr. Albert Schweitzer was a famous musician, writer and teacher. He gave up all of this to become a medical doctor. When on October 13,1906, he sent letters to his parents and closest acquaintances announcing that he would enter Strasbourg University as a medical student to prepare for his missionary career, they were appalled. What a waste many of them said. Yet Schweitzer persevered. His correspondence shows that he was not blind to the possible consequences. There was every possibility that the diseases he was going to treat in Africa could attack and kill him. Then his long years in medical school would have been in vain. But he was ready to die. God rewarded him with a life that has been celebrated all over the world.
Schweitzer must have identified with Jesus’ words: ““Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”” John 12:27, 28, NIV