Along with =
four other women, Elisabeth Elliot waited by a short-wave radio for what =
must have seemed like an eternity, listening for a message from their =
husbands, who had taken a flight into hostile Indian territory. =
The young couples had been trying to reach the Auca Indians in Ecuador =
with the gospel.
When no =
message was received, a search party was sent out after the men, and =
eventually the dreadful truth was discovered. The young =
missionaries were found lying face-down in the river, killed by the =
poisoned lances of the Indians.
This terrible =
happening had not been on Elisabeth’s agenda. She and her =
husband Jim had been looking forward to a missionary career =
together. Now her whole world had crashed around =
her.
Elisabeth =
discovered she had a choice. She could resign herself to the =
situation and return home with her young daughter, or she could ask the =
Lord, “In what redemptive way can You use this?” =
Elisabeth chose to trust God to do something positive with the =
negatives. And she decided to become part of the =
action.
She and her =
young daughter, and Rachel Saint (Nate Saint’s sister) bravely set =
off into the jungle and found the tribe that had killed Jim and =
Nate. The women were well received, and allowed to make their home =
among the Indians. After the Bible was translated and the gospel =
shared, many in the tribe turned to Christ.
Later, Nate =
and Marge Saint’s daughter Kathie was baptized in the river where =
her daddy had died. Truly God had used that particular situation =
in a redemptive way!
God wants US =
to buy up the opportunities that come our way as we learn to TRUST HIM =
and to use the troubles as a springboard for =
action.
Trusting God =
brings a certain element of hope to our hearts – a confident =
expectation that all is not lost and that there IS something redeemable =
in the most awful situations. This trust is a tenacious spiritual =
insistence that God can be trusted, not only to be totally and =
thoroughly aware of our dilemmas, but also to be in control, and already =
taking eternal measures to work out His eternal =
purposes!
~~
Dr Bob Griffin =
[email protected] =
www.grif.net
"Jesus =
Knows Me, This I Love!"