Oswald J. Smith

September 9, 2026
optimizing

When God’s “Yes” Looks Like a “No”. Oswald Jeffrey Smith was told he was too frail to become a missionary—the very calling he believed God had placed on his heart. But what looked like rejection became redirection, leading him into decades of ministry, preaching, evangelism, and missions around the world. If you’re facing a closed door, disappointment, or an unexpected detour, this story is a reminder that God can use a different route to accomplish His purpose. Listen and consider whether your “no” might actually be leading somewhere God has already prepared. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way.” (Psalm 37:23 NKJV)

Full Transcript

September 9. Oswald Jeffrey Smith. At an RA Torrey conference, Oswald became a Christian at age 16. About 14 years later, he founded The Peoples Church in Toronto. On September 9, 1928, he preached his first service to an audience of 2000. 

Several missionary boards turned him down, saying he was too frail for the mission field, but Oswald lived in the power of the endless life of Christ and served eighty years in the ministry, preached more than 12,000 sermons in 80 countries, and wrote thirty-five books. His life didn’t go the way he had planned, but it did go and go and go. 

Hearing “no” could lead to an unexpected “yes.” 

Oswald grew up in a small, country town. A sickly boy, his parents and doctors questioned whether he would reach adulthood. He was absent from school on and off, and eventually missed two entire years of school. 

But Oswald defeated the odds, and at 16, went to Toronto to hear an evangelist preach. He listened to that evangelist, and his heart was caught. That’s what he wanted to be. And he didn’t want to be only an evangelist; he wanted to be a missionary. He wanted to travel to places God wanted him to and tell anyone he could about the gospel. 

With his trip to Toronto stamped in his heart forever, he decided that was the place to be. So, when he turned 18, he moved there and started attending evening classes at Toronto Bible College, his longing to be a missionary burning strong inside. 

Finally, when the doors opened, he applied for an appointment in the mission field through the church. On the precipice of his dream coming true, excitement brewing inside, he was told “no.” He had been too weak and sick when he was a young boy, they said. He would never be suited for the mission field. 

Oswald struggled with the rejection and disappointment, but he wouldn’t give up. If God had put this in his heart, God would be faithful to bring it to pass. 

Oswald took a job selling Bibles door-to-door for the Bible Society. It was a way to make money and allowed him to travel a bit, meet new people, and talk to them about God and His Word. 

He was so good at selling Bibles that the Bible Society sent him to Vancouver, some thirty miles away. Meeting this person and that, he made his way up the coast, making contacts with a variety of people and local pastors. Sometimes he would make a call to a lumber camp or to a home in the middle of nowhere. All the while, he spoke to these people about God, His Word, and the truth written there. 

Traveling farther and farther through the country, he wound up near the native people. He preached to them and sold them Bibles. It was there that a Methodist missionary noticed Oswald and asked if he would be willing to stay through the winter as his associate and minister to the Indians. 

Oswald said, “Yes.” 

It wasn’t the way he thought it would go. He had thought he would sign up at the church and take an assignment in the mission field and in an orderly fashion, off he would go. No. God took a different route. A longer route, an out-of-the-way route. But the destination was the same. 

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his ways” (Psalm 37:23 NKJV).   

What disappointments are you dealing with? Hearing “no” could lead to an unexpected “yes.” 

September 9. Oswald Jeffrey Smith. At an RA Torrey conference, Oswald became a Christian at age 16. About 14 years later, he founded The Peoples Church in Toronto. On September 9, 1928, he preached his first service to an audience of 2000.

Several missionary boards turned him down, saying he was too frail for the mission field, but Oswald lived in the power of the endless life of Christ and served eighty years in the ministry, preached more than 12,000 sermons in 80 countries, and wrote thirty-five books. His life didn’t go the way he had planned, but it did go and go and go.

Hearing “no” could lead to an unexpected “yes.”

Oswald grew up in a small, country town. A sickly boy, his parents and doctors questioned whether he would reach adulthood. He was absent from school on and off, and eventually missed two entire years of school.

But Oswald defeated the odds, and at 16, went to Toronto to hear an evangelist preach. He listened to that evangelist, and his heart was caught. That’s what he wanted to be. And he didn’t want to be only an evangelist; he wanted to be a missionary. He wanted to travel to places God wanted him to and tell anyone he could about the gospel.

With his trip to Toronto stamped in his heart forever, he decided that was the place to be. So, when he turned 18, he moved there and started attending evening classes at Toronto Bible College, his longing to be a missionary burning strong inside.

Finally, when the doors opened, he applied for an appointment in the mission field through the church. On the precipice of his dream coming true, excitement brewing inside, he was told “no.” He had been too weak and sick when he was a young boy, they said. He would never be suited for the mission field.

Oswald struggled with the rejection and disappointment, but he wouldn’t give up. If God had put this in his heart, God would be faithful to bring it to pass.

Oswald took a job selling Bibles door-to-door for the Bible Society. It was a way to make money and allowed him to travel a bit, meet new people, and talk to them about God and His Word.

He was so good at selling Bibles that the Bible Society sent him to Vancouver, some thirty miles away. Meeting this person and that, he made his way up the coast, making contacts with a variety of people and local pastors. Sometimes he would make a call to a lumber camp or to a home in the middle of nowhere. All the while, he spoke to these people about God, His Word, and the truth written there.

Traveling farther and farther through the country, he wound up near the native people. He preached to them and sold them Bibles. It was there that a Methodist missionary noticed Oswald and asked if he would be willing to stay through the winter as his associate and minister to the Indians.

Oswald said, “Yes.”

It wasn’t the way he thought it would go. He had thought he would sign up at the church and take an assignment in the mission field and in an orderly fashion, off he would go. No. God took a different route. A longer route, an out-of-the-way route. But the destination was the same.

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his ways” (Psalm 37:23 NKJV).

What disappointments are you dealing with? Hearing “no” could lead to an unexpected “yes.”