......over at Quiet Life (link to the right, and if you haven't been, go!), here is something from Elisabeth Elliot. I, too, have always loved Mrs. Elliot, and used to listen to her on Christian radio every morning. I liked what came in my Elisabeth Elliot devotional today:
When you take the risk of obedience, you find solid rock beneath you--and markers, evidence that someone has traveled this route before. "The Lord your God will cross over at your head... he will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not be discouraged or afraid" (Deuteronomy 30:19, 20; 31:3, 8, NEB).
"Risk of obedience." I love that. It's something that has always felt like a big risk, the ultimate leap of faith. To actually agree to "obey." Hey, we live in a culture that thinks that obedience is the stuff of mindless automatons. And for many, many years I bought into exactly the same cultural mindset. Most of the time without even realizing it!
But it remains true that every time I have stepped out in faith--to obey before fully understanding--I have always found the sure rock beneath my feet. When we came into the Church, we satisfied ourselves on a few big issues, and left the rest up as a matter of obedience and assent, trusting that we would find the rock when we had enough time to look. And it's there.
Thanks be to God, it's there.
Here's a little hymn I thought of when I read the devotional. You can sing it to lots of tunes (Adeste Fideles, Lyons, St. Denio). Go to Cyberhymnal to hear the tune if'n you don't remember it.
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?
"Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.
When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
The soul that to Jesus hath fled for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake."
Mrs Elliot Gren is one of my heros of the faith who has had a MAJOR impact on my life and still does. From my single life to my 9 years of a very difficult marraige, she has been a rock.
God is with us if we will trust and obey Him... that obedience is sometimes awkward and the world even other Believers will not get it... But our God does...He is faithful all the way...
I love Elisabeth too! I used to listen to her radio program as well. I was so sad when she retired from radio. Did you know her brother is a convert to Catholicism? She has a very radical view of Christianity. Obebience to God is the rock of her radicalness (is that a real word?).