Elisabeth Elliot (to whom I referred yesterday) is one of those rare people who has been committed to Christ from a very young age without wavering. That’s not to say she hasn’t struggled with why God does what he does.
Her widowhood arrived only 3 years into her marriage to missionary Jim Elliot, a man so committed to sharing Christ’s love he told Elizabeth (Betty) he had decided never to marry. In God’s economy, wives trumped careers, and Jim didn’t want to slight either one.
But after years of friendship with Betty, he realized that her longing to serve God was as deep as his, and so they married, eager for a lifetime of ministry together. Though it seemed God’s plans had gone awry when Jim was murdered along with 4 fellow laborers, Betty accepted it as his will for her and their 10 month old daughter Valerie.
She then did something her friends thought was incongruous, even unconscionable. She packed up her little girl and headed for the same tribal group that killed her husband, intent on continuing the work he’d barely begun. Her astounding story has been told in books (Through Gates of Splendor, The Savage My Kinsman), magazines (LIFE, Readers Digest), and a feature film (End of the Spear).
As Betty trudged on foot through the snake-infested jungles of Ecuador to see not only the place where her husband died but to meet the men who killed him, surely she was frightened. I would have been terrified. But she testified to knowing no fear. She took two reassuring tools with her: a rock-solid belief in the sovereignty of God, and her camera.
Whatever happened, she believed, would only occur if God allowed it. Though she didn’t understand why Jim had to die, she didn’t sign off on her faith. Instead she submitted further, trusting God not just with her own life but with that of her toddler.
Fifty-eight years later we begin to understand a bit better as we see this once-violent tribe of savages committed to Christ and living in love relationships. Betty and the others who refused to let fear keep them away were ultimately successful in bringing God’s light into a dark culture.
The devil delights in torturing us with fear, whether it’s to debilitate a new widow facing the unknown, or to dangle failure in front of someone trying a new venture, or to fight seemingly unbeatable cancer as my sister is. But God steps forward and says, “That fear is not of Me. Don’t buy into it. Keep trusting me with abandon.”
From Betty’s youthful perspective, her husband’s death was unnecessary, and for years she bore the heavy burden of trying to understand God’s behavior. When she finally figured out she wasn’t responsible for it, the load fell off and she was free to rest in God’s peace.
Her example should encourage us all to take him at his word and move forward without fear. Only in heaven will we finally understand why God did what he did on earth.
“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” (Proverbs 29:25)
Thank you for continuing in prayer for Mary. Additional requests on tomorrow’s blog.
Elizabeth Elliott often said, “With acceptance comes peace” and one of her favorite verses was Isaiah 43:2
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you.”
Despite dementia, she continues to practice what she preaches. I thank God for Elizabeth Elliott, AND for you – Margaret and Mary. Thank you for being willing to be open about your lives and struggles and for shedding light on the path. Your testimonies are bearing much fruit in many lives, including mine. God bless you.
“…when Jim was murdered along with 4 fellow laborers, Betty accepted it as his will for her…”
I hope this is your take on Betty and not her words. But, regardless, they are scripturally inaccurate. Not everything done in the world is under God’s control. This situation was not either. The devil is responsible for Jim Elliot’s death. Not God! It was not God’s will for Betty, that Jim would die.
God gets blamed for all sorts of things in Christian’s lives. A different woman carried her baby to term, but it was still born, and thinks God needed to teach her character. God doesn’t need to cause evil to triumph in a person’s life in order to teach them something.
The woman who prayed for months that a tumor would be healed, but in the end had a surgeon remove it, thinks God needs an excuse, so she says God told her she isn’t supposed to question his methods and scolded her for doing so. God never scolds us for trying to use his power to heal ourselves or others.
These are true stories! They speak of a need to come up with an excuse as to why God acted or didn’t act on their behalf. When this happens, we really find out what people believe. Since these events are incongruous to people continuing to believe God, to worship him, and since these people want that relationship to continue, they have to make an excuse for God.
Why wasn’t Elliot protected? Why were these two other women subjected to these circumstances? I don’t have those answers. I only know that God cannot do evil so that good results. That’s what I mean by, “He doesn’t work that way.”