The Family Disciple Me Podcast // Discipleship Starts With a Conversation

March MISSION Madness: The Story of Margaret Wilson // Suffering for Jesus

• Tosha Williams for FDM • Season 5 • Episode 27

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Discover the extraordinary story of Margaret Wilson, the courageous 18-year-old in the 1600s who faced execution for her unyielding faith in Christ amidst Scotland's turbulent history. In this episode, Tosha Williams and Wendy Hickox share about the gripping events leading to Margaret and her sister Agnes's arrest and sentencing to death. As Margaret approached her execution, her actions even in suffering became a powerful testimony to faith in Jesus.

Join us as we reflect on Margaret Wilson's story, especially the Scripture she recited at her death:  Romans 8:18:  “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Then dive into the accompanying devotion-driven-discipleship conversation guide to hear what Jesus wants to say to YOU through His Word.

Margaret's legacy implores us to ponder how we navigate our own convictions in contemporary times. Are we prepared to stand firm in our faith when faced with challenges? Margaret's unwavering commitment serves as an empowering reminder to instill those values in future generations, urging them to live sacrificially for their beliefs.

Subscribe, share, and leave a review—become part of this conversation encouraging everyone to seek Him and speak Him boldly!

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The Family Disciple Me ministry exists to catalyze devotion driven discipleship in our homes and around the world. We believe that discipleship starts with a conversation, and FDM provides free, easily-accessible, biblical resources to encourage these meaningful conversations along life's way. Sign up through our website to be "the first to know" about upcoming releases and resources (including the FDM App - coming soon!!!) You can also follow Family Disciple Me on social media.

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Speaker 1:

I wasn't looking for Margaret Wilson's story. I was just wandering through a quiet graveyard in Stirling, scotland, behind the Church of the Holy Rood. The air was crisp, the stones were weathered by time and then, as I walked past countless gravestones, I saw it, a unique memorial that caught my eye. The inscription wasn't dramatic or bold, in fact it was kind of understated, but there was something about that monument that stirred me. I found myself asking who was this girl? What happened to her? That moment led me to discover one of the most incredible stories of faith I've ever personally encountered. To the world she was foolish, but to those who live for King Jesus, she was faithful. And now, about 340 years later, her story still speaks. And today I want to tell you about this story, the story of Margaret Wilson.

Speaker 2:

That introduction. Well, it already has me hooked. This month, in our March Mission Madness series, we're exploring the lives of crazy, amazing believers, people who are willing to risk everything for Christ. Before we go any further, let's roll that podcast introduction. And then Tasha I want to hear more about Margaret Wilson.

Speaker 3:

Welcome to the Family Disciple Me podcast. If you have a real relationship with Jesus, then you're in the right place to be encouraged, challenged and blessed as you seek Him, speak Him. The mission of the Family Disciple Me ministry is to inspire devotion-driven discipleship, which is something we believe every Christ follower can do. Discipleship starts with a conversation, so let's get going with that right now.

Speaker 1:

Today's episode is about Margaret Wilson. I told you, wendy, about how her monument, her memorial, caught my eye, but I didn't describe it to you, so let me create the setting here. I'm wandering through this graveyard all sorts of tombstones standing upright, falling down, old weathered, some you could read, some you couldn't read, some were covered with algae and moss and others were very clear. And I'm going through all of these and I walk up to this monument. That was this huge glass encasing that held three marble statues. The first statue the largest was an angel who was surrounding this young woman, and the young woman, well, she was protecting this child.

Speaker 1:

I was so caught by the image there, it stunned me and it made me know that there was even more to this story than what was in the inscription. And it turns out, as I kept researching it, margaret Wilson. She was 18 years old, she was just a young woman. She was on the cusp of being an adult and living her whole life, but she chose to believe that what was foolish to the world is sacred and powerful in the eyes of God, and she chose to live for him more than anything or anybody else, during a very, very dangerous point of history.

Speaker 2:

Well, I think, before we go any further, tasha, I think it's so important that we understand why was following Jesus in Scotland at this time, so dangerous.

Speaker 1:

Well, king James VII of Scotland, he demanded that all citizens take what was called an oath of abjuration, declaring himself as the highest ruler even over matters of faith. And well thing is, that wasn't just a law that had no consequences. Those who refused to take the oath of abjuration? They were imprisoned, they were exiled or they were even executed in what became known as the killing time. And that happened for about 10 years, starting in about 1680.

Speaker 1:

A group of people that were known as the Covenanters refused to recognize the king as the head of the church. They were fine recognizing him as king of their country, but they weren't okay with him being the king of the church. They believed only one person had that role and that right and that was King. Jesus Still is actually. Well, the world, and maybe even many other people who called themselves Christians. They saw the Covenanter's refusal to call the king the king of everything. They saw that as foolishness, but in God's kingdom it was faithfulness. That is definitely setting the king of everything. They saw that as foolishness, but in God's kingdom it was faithfulness.

Speaker 2:

That is definitely setting the scene for me Now, oh now, I'm interested to know more about Margaret Wilson's life.

Speaker 1:

Margaret was a young woman from a town called Wigtown in Scotland and she was raised in a faithful Covenanter community. Now, the thing about Covenanters is that, well, they were in danger. They couldn't just go to church, they couldn't worship where other people might see them or hear them, so they worshiped in secret places, sometimes out in the forest and out in the woods amongst the trees. They had to worship King Jesus secretly because they refused to acknowledge the King of Scotland, the King of England, as the head of the church. Well, along the way, margaret and her 13-year-old sister, agnes, they were arrested for not taking the oath of abjuration. They were arrested, they were put on trial and they were sentenced to execution. Can you imagine, wendy? These are young, young girls that were put on trial, sentenced to be executed for worshiping Christ.

Speaker 2:

That's absolutely heartbreaking. I can't even fathom what they were going through at that time, and yet it sounds like she didn't back down.

Speaker 1:

She didn't back down. She did have a father who did everything he could to try to secure the release and the freedom of his daughters. I believe that he sold everything he could sell. I think he raised as much money as he could from friends and family members to try to raise bail much money as he could from friends and family members to try to raise bail. He went to Edinburgh to try to get the Privy Council to release his daughters, but in the end they wouldn't reverse their ruling and he only had enough money to afford the ransom of one daughter. So he ransomed his younger daughter, Agnes, and so there was Margaret, his other daughter sentenced to death by drowning in a waterway called the Solway Firth.

Speaker 2:

What happened on this day of execution?

Speaker 1:

Well, margaret Wilson had been captured with another Margaret, a Margaret named Margaret McLaughlin, and that woman was in her 60s and we know that Margaret Wilson was 18.

Speaker 1:

Well, these two women were tied to a stake in the rising tide and they put Margaret McLaughlin further out, like deeper into the waters, and they tied Margaret Wilson to a stake closer in, because they were hoping that, as she watched Margaret McLaughlin die for her faith, that she would take the oath of abjuration to rescue her life. So Margaret watched her beloved friend, this older woman, die for Jesus in the incoming tide. And as the tide was coming in, she knew she was next and the guards gave her one chance after the next to swear allegiance to the king. In fact, wendy, her family was gathered around her begging her just take the oath, just take the oath. In fact, wendy, her family was gathered around her begging her just take the oath, just take the oath. You can almost imagine them saying you don't even have to mean it, just say it and it'll spare your life. But Margaret would not put King Jesus in second place in her life.

Speaker 2:

This is such a lesson already. We haven't even gotten through her story and yet I want to go and share it with my own children right now.

Speaker 1:

So let's keep going, Keep telling me, can you imagine an 18-year-old with this sort of determination?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely not, and especially let's be real in today's society. There's no comparison right now in today's society.

Speaker 1:

There's no comparison right now. And yet, wendy, my deepest desire is that we will be able to speak into the next generation and raise up these strong warriors who live sacrificially for Jesus, no matter what their age.

Speaker 2:

Which is telling me that these conversations that we're having with the next generation, they're vital for helping all children, all ages, from our young little ones, elementary age, to our young adults, to live on mission for what God has called them to do.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. And you know, what is so inspiring to me about Margaret Wilson's life is that she knew at least two chapters of scripture. As I've studied that time period of history, it was really hard to get copies of the Bible. In fact people were being burned at the stake in that general time period for making copies of the Bible. So it was very dangerous to have copies of the word of God, so they would have been sacred and rare. And in the midst of all that she was experiencing and going through as a young woman, she was rock solid in her faith, knowing, having memorized two chapters of scripture.

Speaker 2:

I wonder if her parents helped her memorize those scriptures.

Speaker 1:

I wonder if that happened. We don't know, I didn't find that in the history, but I did find that her older brother was a huge spiritual influence in her life as well. So, however it happened, margaret Wilson had hidden God's word in her heart. And well before I tell you what those scriptures were, I just want to say we have that opportunity with our kids and our families as well. We are focusing on different verses in every single Family. Disciple Me devotion-driven discipleship conversation. So as we hide those scriptures in our kids' hearts and our hearts, we never know how God is going to bring those back and use those in their lives.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, because we know that the Word is living and so when you're reading those scriptures, it has something to say to you at that time in your life, when you're reading it, and you can turn around and share that with the next generation.

Speaker 1:

I'm certain that Margaret Wilson had these two chapters memorized, because, well, I doubt she was holding any pieces of paper in the incoming tide. But witnesses later testified that she began to sing Psalm chapter 25, a song of trust in God, even in suffering. And I can tell you, the next time I read Psalm 25 in the context of that being amongst Margaret's last words, wow, it took on a whole different meaning and a whole different depth to me. I'll never read that Psalm the same again. And as the waters rose, she also recited Romans, chapter 8, declaring that nothing, not even death, could separate her from Christ.

Speaker 2:

I'm just imagining right now that she is on her death doorstep, really, and she's clinging to these verses Psalms 25 and Romans 8. You said you went back and you read those. After hearing this story, what really stands out to you about those verses?

Speaker 1:

Oh, so many things stand out to me from those verses, but one verse in particular just jumps off the page at me, and actually this is the verse that is our theme verse for this particular conversation in our March Mission Madness conversations, and it is Romans, chapter 8, verse 18. And that verse says I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. That verse in context of Margaret being tied to this stake out in this waterway with this incoming tide, this young, 18-year-old woman being executed because King Jesus was on the throne of her heart higher than any other king, her saying these words I consider that my present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in me.

Speaker 2:

That is absolutely riveting to me At this point I have to ask you, as you've been telling this story, as you've been recounting this story, as you have been just laying this beautiful scenery for us of this time in Scotland, when you were standing there and you were looking at Margaret's memorial, you were reading that inscription. Did you know at that time how powerful her story was? At that time? Did you know that it would continue to just lay upon your heart for months and months after going to Scotland?

Speaker 1:

Once I started researching her story as we were headed back to our hotel, I was struck by the significance of her story but honestly, I had no idea how much it would reverberate in my life this many months later. I wanted to know who she was. When I read her story and I thought about her faith and it challenged me to live for God more sacrificially than ever.

Speaker 2:

You seem so passionate about this story. After reading it, actually, it seems like you kind of stumbled upon this story.

Speaker 1:

I did. I stumbled on this story as we were walking through that graveyard. There were four of us together there, the other three including my beloved husband. They kept walking. I'm the one that was standing there gaping at this monument, but then, as we left, I was the one that kept just researching it and thinking about it. Margaret Wilson's life, her young 18-year-old life, made me ask myself do I live with that kind of conviction? Do I let the world and the world's pressures silence my faith? Margaret's story reminds me that there's more to this life than just this life, and while that may seem foolishness to the world to live that way, and yet that's the choice that I want to make every day to live for King Jesus and to keep him highest on the throne of my heart, of my life.

Speaker 2:

Margaret's story is such a great reminder of how to live sacrificially for Jesus.

Speaker 1:

And that's going to look different in all of our lives, right? Hopefully we're not going to be tied to a stake, set in the incoming tide, to be killed by drowning for our faith. Probably isn't going to look like that, but there are ways, every single day, that God asks us to stand up for our faith and to be sacrificial, and the question is whether or not we'll choose to live that when the moments come.

Speaker 2:

And not only are we living that way, but we want to turn around and share into our children to do the same thing.

Speaker 1:

That's right around and share into our children to do the same thing. That's right. Margaret Wilson's legacy as a young person Well, she is such an example of what we're highlighting in this March Mission Madness series and that is crazy. Amazing faith and what I love about Margaret is so many things actually. But even though she was killed by drowning, her faith could never drown. In fact, it's almost like a tidal wave into my heart and, wendy, I hope it's a tidal wave into the hearts of everybody who hears just a little bit about her story.

Speaker 2:

And this just isn't for one age listener. This is for our youngs, this is for elementary, this is for our middle school, our young adults. Margaret was 18 years old and she had her whole life ahead of her, but she knew there was something greater coming. She lived for Jesus, she died for Jesus, and now she is with Jesus. I want nothing more than for my children to understand this.

Speaker 1:

That's right, and it starts with us leaning in and seeking the Lord about this in our own lives, and then we have the amazing privilege to turn around and speak this into the lives of those entrusted to us. So, for all of us, let's spend some time seeking the Lord about, well, this theme. Verse from Margaret's life, romans, chapter 8, verse 18. Let's ask the Spirit of God to show us what he wants to say to us through that. Let's ask Him those questions what, why and how. That is in every conversation here with Family, disciple Me and then, as he speaks to us, as he shows us how he wants us to walk and live out that truth, then let's be sure, wendy, you and me and everybody who's listening, let's be sure to turn around and speak him into the lives of those entrusted to us.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I can't wait to get home and share this with as fast as I can.

Speaker 1:

It's good stuff. Well, this is the end of March. Mission Madness for this year. We'll see what next year holds, but for now, wendy, would you close us out with a final prayer of blessing about living on mission for Jesus?

Speaker 2:

Dear Heavenly Father. Lord, what an opportunity to seek you, to know who you are, to hear your voice in these stories of extraordinary women that we have had the privilege to study during this month. May we hear their stories, may we apply them to our lives, may we seek your word and hear what you have to say and share it with the next generation. Lord, we just praise you for this blessed time that you've given us. I pray for our listeners, I pray for all those that are tuning in that they would hear your voice, that they would study your scripture and know who you are, that we would continue to live on mission for you, jesus Christ, as you have called us to live for you, lord Jesus, and it's in your precious and heavenly name we pray. Amen.

Speaker 1:

Yes, Amen, yes, friends, thank you for tuning in. God bless you. Until next time, be encouraged.

Speaker 3:

Thanks for joining us in this podcast episode. You can find the matching conversation guide in the show notes. To get the latest updates about the Family Disciple Me ministry, as well as word about our soon-to-be-released app, sign up to be the first to know at familydisciplemeorg. Also, if you enjoyed this podcast, help us get the word out by leaving us a review on your favorite podcast platform. God bless you, friend. Now go seek Him, speak Him.