Elisabeth Elliot - Faith That Does Not Falter: Selections from the Writings of Elisabeth Elliot

CONTENTS

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abbreviation for book tide-see copyright page for explanation

2003 by Elisabeth Elliot

Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

ISBN 978-1-4934-3456-5

The selections in this book are taken from the following books by Elisabeth Elliot:

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture references are from The New English Bible. Copyright 1961, 1970, 1989 by The Delegates of Oxford University Press and The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press. Reprinted by permission. Other versions quoted include the King James Version (KJV), the New International Version NIV (NIV), the Revised Standard Version (RSV), and the New Testament in Modern English, Revised Edition (PHILLIPS).

Cover photo by George Robinson Studios

Cover and interior design by Robin K. Black

S o do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help You;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

ISAIAH 41:10 NIV

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

W hat is a Christian supposed to do when terrible things happen? We have two choicestrust God or defy Him. We believe that God is God. Hes still got the whole world in His hands and knows exactly what Hes doing, or we must believe that He is not God and we are at the awful mercy of mere chance.

Faith is a decision. It is not a deduction from the facts around us. Faith is an act of the will, a choice based on the unbreakable Word of a God who cannot lie, and who showed us what love and obedience and sacrifice mean in the person of Jesus Christ.

The prince of this world approaches. God keeps you from fear, from faltering, and from faithlessness. Remember that the world is watching. What do they see?

THE GLORY OF GODS NAME

O ld Testament writers made much of the name of God. Israel was a nation specifically set apart as a place for God to put His name. Appeals were made on the basis of the name. For thy names sake lead me, and guide me, the psalmist prayed. Not because of who I am, not in recognition of my reputation, but because of who You are. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor. The Lord is my banner. Lord God of Hosts. No questions of merit can arise with regard to that name. It is above every name. Therefore I can come today on the ground of that names merit.

The prayer that Jesus taught His disciples begins with the petition, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Whatever our requests may be that bring us to His feet, they should begin with a careful consideration of the meaning of this form of address. If we say the words slowly and thoughtfully, they cannot help but color the rest of the prayer. If it is guidance we are asking, we may be very wrong in our hopes as to the direction it will take. We may be ill-prepared in heart for the road God will choose for us. But, as George MacDonald wrote: The thought of Him to whom that prayer goes will purify and correct the desire.

If we did not have Gods unequivocal promise, the words, Guide me, for the sake of Your name would sound outrageously presumptuous. But the truth is that God said He would do just this. There is nothing presumptuous or precarious about it. The validity of the divine word is at stake, and that is a very sure foundation.

GODS SOVEREIGNTY, OUR CHOICE

T here are those who do not want to receive Christ. Those who do however, are given not an instant kingdom but the right to become children of God. Here is the truth of divine sovereignty and human responsibility wrapped up in a single verse. To those who will He gives. There are many levels of meaning here that we cannot explore. It does not say God makes them instant children of God. It says He gives them the right to become. To those who receive Him, to those who have yielded to Him their allegiance, He gives the right to become children of God.

If we hold back our obedience until we have plumbed the theological depths of this mystery, we shall be disobedient. There are truths that cannot be known except by doing them. The Gospels show many cases of those who wished to understand rather than to obey. Jesus had scathing words for them. On one occasion He turned from them to those who had already believed in Him and said, If you dwell within the revelation I have brought, you are indeed my disciples; you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32).

The Bible does not explain everything necessary for our intellectual satisfaction, but it explains everything necessary for our obedience and hence for Gods satisfaction.

MEETING GOD

T he Bible is Gods message to everybody. We deceive ourselves if we claim to want to hear His voice but neglect the primary channel through which it comes. We must read His Word. We must obey it. We must live it, which means rereading it throughout our lives.

We read that our Heavenly Father actually looks for people who will worship Him in spirit and in reality. Imagine! God is looking for worshipers. Will He always have to go to a church to find them, or might there be one here and there in an ordinary house, kneeling alone by a chair, simply adoring Him?

When I stumble out of bed in the morning, put on a robe, and go into my study, words do not spring spontaneously to my lipsother than words like, Lord, here I am again to talk to You. Its cold. Im not feeling terribly spiritual. Who can go on and on like that morning after morning, and who can bear to listen to it day after day?

I need help in order to worship God. Nothing helps me more than the Psalms. Here we find human criesof praise, adoration, anguish, complaint, petition. There is an immediacy, an authenticity, about those cries. They speak for me to Godthat is, they say what I often want to say, but for which I cannot find words.

Surely the Holy Spirit preserved those Psalms in order that we might have paradigms of prayer and of our individual dealings with God. It is immensely comforting to find that even David, the great king, wailed about his loneliness, his enemies, his pains, his sorrows, and his fears. But then he turned from them to God in paeans of praise.

He found expression for praise far beyond my poor powers, so I use his and am lifted out of myself, up into heights of adoration, even though Im still the same ordinary woman alone in the same little room.

RECOGNIZING WHO GOD IS

W e have ample evidence that the Lord is able to guide. The promises cover every imaginable situation. All we need to do is take the hand He stretches out. But it is here that the hardest question arises for me. How, exactly, do I take His hand? Isnt this an extreme oversimplification of the conditions of the promises?

I know He has said over and over, I will guide you. I know the words, It is the LORD who goes before you; he will be with you, he will not fail you or forsake you; do not fear or be dismayed (Deut. 31:8 RSV). But there are so many promises with conditions attached, conditions that seem impossible to fulfill for us who are not far along the road to sainthood. Often I have prayed to God for light, and He has shown me some promise in the Bible that indicates He will certainly give me the light I am asking for, if and then I have found, to my despair, that a great deal is asked of me in exchange. Who does God think I am, that I can meet such demands before He will answer my prayer?