Life of John Bradford

I was reading just today a little of the life of John Bradford, who was one of King Edward VI's chaplains in the mid-16th century. (Yes, he is a dead guy! Surprise, surprise!). In reading about him, I came across a quote that I wanted to share with you.

Bradford became a Christian later in life, at 37 years of age. He began training for the ministry at 38! And was ordained at age 40. Three years after his ordination, the Protestant King Edward VI died and was succeeded by his half-sister Mary (a.k.a., "Bloody" Mary), who was Roman Catholic. Bradford was immediately arrested (within the month!) and imprisoned in the Tower of London for his evangelical faith and preaching. After six weeks in prison, this is what he had to say about his experiences in a letter to his mother (note how foreign this statement is to our twenty-first century ears):

"I thank [God] more of this prison than of any parlour, yea, of any pleasure that ever I had, for in it I find God, my most sweet good God, always."

Imagine thanking God for prison and persecution, not because prison is a good thing in and of itself, but because in the midst of persecution and affliction, he has found God and has grown in his communion with God. Surely this is part of what is meant by passages like Romans 8:28.