“Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”
Psalm 55:22 (NIV)
Whenever I read quotes of various authors, martyrs or ministers, I occasionally run across one that stirs my curiosity to want to learn more about the writer, and gain a deeper understanding of the one who made the quotes.
One such writer and speaker who I searched was Elisabeth Elliot, who was a 20th century missionary in Ecuador, along with her husband, Jim and daughter Valerie. One day in 1956, Jim and four fellow missionary friends went to befriend a tribe living in eastern Ecuador. Jim and the others didn’t get very far when they were all speared to death by tribal members.
Elisabeth, newly widowed, with a young daughter, decided to stay in Ecuador after befriending and earning respect from people during the time there. She eventually met and forgave the men of the tribe who murdered her husband. She spoke about the faithfulness of God, the blessings of obedience, joy in the midst of sorrow, and the call to love one’s enemy.
In her own words, “To love God is to love His will. It is to wait quietly for life to be measured by One who knows us through and through, and to be content with His timing and His wise appointment.”
Elizabeth served in Ecuador for two more years as a missionary, until she felt God leading her back to the USA. She started writing and putting all the things she learned into books. She wrote over 20 books, while touring and speaking all over the United States. For thirteen years she had a daily radio program called “Gateway to Joy” in which she opened her show each day with the following words:
‘You’re loved with an everlasting love and underneath are the everlasting arms.’
In the 1950’s when most women, newly widowed, would lack the confidence to do all that she did, she trusted God to keep His promise and supply all her needs, as she said, “What we don’t have now, we don’t need now.”
Though she did remarry later, God provided for her and her daughter through her writing, speaking and radio ministry in those early years. She passed away in 2015 at the age of 89.
Her quote that first got my attention was “Everything, if given to God can become your gateway to joy.” Elisabeth truly gave everything to God, and He opened many doors, revealing a new purpose in her life, which left an impact on all who knew her. I’ll close with one of Elisabeth’s prayers:
Lord, Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I. Let me hear your word, give me grace to obey, to build steadily, stone upon stone, day by day, to do what You say. Establish my heart so that floods have no power to overwhelm, for Christ’s sake. Amen
