The last few months have been slower-paced for me since I have been battling morning sickness. During this time, I’ve tried to spend more time reading books. I love reading, but in the hustle and bustle of motherhood, I usually turn to podcasts. But this week, I finished a book by Elisabeth Elliot entitled Keep A Quiet Heart. It has challenged me in different ways, but the emphasis she puts on being a woman of prayer spoke to me in a deeper way. We each will walk through hard times in our lives —it is inevitable. But our response to each situation will either make us better or bitter. When we create a habit of turning to the Lord, we will find the strength and grace we need for every new day.
As I thought of the author of this book and the trials she walked through personally, it meant even more coming from her. The resounding theme of Elliot’s life was the boundless love of Jesus, and her greatest commission was to tell others of His saving grace. This costly call led her into the Amazonian jungle of Ecuador where her husband, Jim Elliot, was one of five missionaries speared to death in 1956 while attempting to make contact with members of the Auca tribe. Elisabeth and her young daughter Valerie would later return to Auca territory to live among and minister to the people who killed her husband.
Familiar with suffering, Elliot wrote: “The deepest things that I have learned in my own life have come from the deepest suffering. And out of the deepest waters and the hottest fires have come the deepest things I know about God.” I don’t know what you might be facing today but know that you are not alone. You have a Heavenly Father who loves you with an everlasting love.
Psalm 138:3 says, “In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.”
He hears. He knows. He cares.
Be encouraged.
Erin
