You are loved with an everlasting love and underneath are the everlasting arms. That's what the Bible says.
Don’t get in touch with your feelings, submit radically to God, and do what is right no matter what. Put your love life on the altar and keep it there until God takes it off. Suffering is normal. Have you no scars, no wounds, with Jesus on the Calvary road?
I read this quote of Elisabeth Elliott and dwelt with it for a while. She is gone now, but her words resonate with conviction. Her boldness still speaks.
Her life in the 1950's was radically different than anyone else I have known, not that I have known her personally, but we who have read her books claim kinship in some small way. She has been an influencer, an encourager. So should it surprise me that she speaks of living radically?
She has always seen the compass heading and seems to move steadfastly in one direction, no matter what.
And I find myself repeating her words:
Do what is right no matter what.....
Put your love life on the altar and keep it there......
Very interesting to me on many levels. How counter-cultural to us today. We don't like to speak of sacrifice in American any more. We like to talk about rights and make demands. Voices clamoring for attention today would never make the 'what's trending' segment of what they still call 'news' although it all sounds like opinion to me if they spoke of sacrifice and living for others.
Frequently I heard her voice via her radio program, Gateway to Joy. She always opened with,
"You are loved with an everlasting love...and underneath are the everlasting arms. That's what the Bible says. This is your friend, Elisabeth Elliott."
I remember fondly her voice and the words which flowed from my car speakers offering a daily dose of her experiencing that truth and have taken it to heart. That scripture reference is not simply one, but can be found in Jeremiah 31:3, Deuteronomy 33:27 among others.
I remember hearing Elisabeth speak in Jackson many years ago. She was
asked her favorite hymn. She didn't hedge with, 'Oh, there are so
many...' as I might have done. She said unflinchingly, "Blessed
Assurance, Jesus is Mine."
And so it has become a favorite of mine just because she said so.Elisabeth Elliott Gren died June 15, 2015. Her website linked here is a gift offering her collections from the memory which faded far too soon. Dementia came as a thief in the night. A slow thief. Selections are available to read and listen from this courageous strong woman. I hope to read some soon. Perhaps you will discover her anew or for the first time. The world needs a few more heroes and heroines.
*Elisabeth Elliott's words recalled by John Piper here http://www.desiringgod.org/
