Written by Lucy S.R. Austen |
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Elizabeth had seen God as a stern judge, waiting to penalize anyone who failed to understand his direction. Instead, A Slow and Certain Light describes him as a guide “who has been there before and knows the way,” who can be trusted not to let us wander off and get lost. It characterizes him as a good shepherd, “the God who carries lambs in his arms.”

Seeking God’s Will
Of the many books Elisabeth Elliot wrote, her best-known is surely her first, Through Gates of Splendor. The 1957 multibiography is first and foremost a narrative of how five families came together to plan a missionary approach to a little-known people group in rural Ecuador, and how the plan ended in the deaths of five of the missionaries, including Elliot’s husband Jim. But the book is also an exposition of the then-twenty-nine-year-old Elliot’s beliefs about the will of God.
The first mention of God’s guidance appears just a page into the book, and his clear leading is described again less than a page from the end. In between, God’s will is characterized as covering both the big picture (“Christ said, ‘Go ye’; their answer was ‘Lord, send me.’”1) and the individual details (“He asked God specifically to show him his next move.”2) We see God’s will discovered through prayer, Bible reading, circumstances, and the impressions of the inner self.

This biography takes readers on an in-depth journey through the life of Elisabeth Elliot—her marriage to Jim Elliot, her years of international missions work, and her prolific career as a writer and speaker.

Seeking and obeying the will of God had been a constant emphasis throughout Elliot’s life. She had grown up in a world saturated in the Keswick Holiness tradition, with its stress on giving the whole person, inside and out, to God. She took this teaching seriously, responding to an altar call for salvation at age ten and another at twelve to make clear her commitment to God’s will for her life. Her letters home from boarding school and college reflect this focus; they are liberally sprinkled with requests for prayer that God’s will for her time at school be fulfilled, that she can have the strength to attain all that God has for her, that she be preserved from mistaking God’s guidance and stepping out of his plan for her life.
The fear of missing God’s direction caused Elliot much grief. A letter to her mother written not long after her college graduation shows her understanding of God’s will in greater detail:
More than anything else in the world I fear myself. I can trust God to be unchangingly faithful—I could trust Him to keep me and guide me if I could honestly say I desire nothing save His own, complete will. But how do I know that that is all I desire? How can I know a heart that is deceitful above all things and DESPERATELY WICKED? God judges those who are disobedient. We must suffer. Oh, suppose I should, by allowing feeling to overcome faith, miss His direction? Why must I struggle thro’ a maze of thought and feeling which spring from myself and my own soul, in order to reach Him? These are the thoughts that continually recur.3

Related Posts:

As believers we can trust that God is at work in these disappointments for his glory and our growth in holiness. He may be testing our faith to see if we are willing to trust him even when circumstances make no sense or are terribly unjust and evil, and this kind of faith is a great testimony to the world of what is most important—our relationship with God that will last for all eternity. The pain we face as sinful human beings in the rejections of life cannot compare with all the rejection that Christ, who was without sin, willingly suffered because of his great love for us. The rejections we experience should also make us even more determined to treat others with love and respect.

Someone once said, “Don’t let the opinion of one or two people decide what you think about yourself.” Here are eight good things to remember after experiencing rejection:
1. People say and do unkind things because of their selfish desires.
We are all prone to think our motives are purer than they actually are. The people from whom we have experienced rejection likely feel they are justified in their actions for a variety of reasons. Of course, these are not necessarily good reasons, but the likelihood of such people recognizing their selfish motivations is slim to none most of the time:

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. (Prov. 21:2)
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jer. 17:9)

As much as we wish other people would acknowledge the pain they have caused in our lives and ask for our forgiveness, this doesn’t often occur. Even when it does, it can be years before they understand and are sorry for their actions. It’s best not to expect an apology and instead forgive the person as Christ has forgiven us.
2. There is good in reflecting on possible factors leading to the rejection.
If we reflect on the rejection we have experienced, we may find some patterns. Perhaps we have a tendency to make friends with people who already have a well-established social network, and they don’t have the time or feel the need to commit to a relationship with another person. Or it may be that we have unreasonable expectations for the relationship and the person feels excessively burdened by them. We may have sinned against the person in some way either knowingly or unknowingly that made them unwilling to continue the relationship.
While we may have thought that our job performance was stellar at an organization from which we were fired, others may have seen our work differently for a variety of reasons. Taking time to assess our patterns of behavior and responsibility in the rejection can help us make changes in future interactions with others. We may even need to ask someone’s forgiveness, but we shouldn’t expect a full restoration of the relationship. Earning someone’s trust again or being able to trust someone who has hurt you takes time and doesn’t always occur.
3. People don’t always want our help.
Perhaps we reached out to a friend or someone at work or church, or in our family, in an attempt to be a good influence in their lives in some way. Yet, the person saw our “counsel” as criticism. While it can be frustrating to say or do nothing when we want to help a person, it is good to remember the words of George Washington from his Rules of Civility:

Give not Advice with[out] being Ask’d & when desired [d]o it briefly. (Rule 68)

Knowing when to give counsel and when to be silent requires the wisdom that comes from much prayer, Bible reading, and life experience. The process of acquiring such wisdom cannot be rushed. Sometimes a relationship can go on for years before enough trust is established for advice to be solicited—and received.
4. There are positive steps we can take to produce a different outcome in the future.
Take some time to think about people you know at church and work and in your community who are kind, yet somewhat shy. Perhaps they have experienced rejection as well and are hesitant to try to build new relationships. In many cases, they would love to have a friend who would enjoy their company. Be sure to pay attention to appropriate boundaries if you or the other person are married or in a dating relationship with someone else.
Maybe you can plan a walk or hike together, go to a matinee, or meet for coffee.
Read More
Related Posts:

It is right to critique unbelief as an incoherent, unsustainable worldview. But we must also offer an alternative. Apologists don’t merely answer questions or defend against accusations. They proclaim and invite.

Apologetic conversations aren’t about hypothetical truths, but about life’s most important matters. We mustn’t simply stick to the scripts of critics; we must see ourselves as God’s prophets “anointed to confess his name” and reveal the mysterious “counsel and will of God concerning our deliverance.”[1] Apologists aim to disrupt the status quo of the critic. Why? Because “as an outsider I don’t need reasons to dismiss something. My ignorance of the subject is already doing a good job of that. I need reasons to take seriously something that I would otherwise dismiss.”[2]
How can we do that? Apologists answer that question differently. For example, “The Van Tillian methodology was negative, to reduce the opponent to absurdity. The Lewisian methodology was affirmative, to persuade the opponent that they actually needed and wanted the Foundation and Anchor of Truth.” [3] Folks might favor one approach over the other—but aren’t they both needed?
This was Paul’s plan. Apologists must “destroy arguments” (2 Cor. 10:5). They also must “entreat…by the meekness and gentleness of Christ” (1). And before doing either we can help our friends better understand their unbelief.
Clarify Unbelief
Because you believe God’s Word, you know more about the unbelief of your friends than they do. The woman at the well was amazed because of the personal things Jesus knew about her (John 4:29). His analysis of her life got her wondering about the claims of Christ’s lordship. We don’t have to be omniscient to understand important truths about unbelief.
Unbelief Is Always Moral, Not Merely Intellectual
Intellectually unbelievers know there is a God, but find it morally intolerable to honor him as God (Rom. 1:21). They stumble over Jesus’ claim of Lordship (1 Peter 2:8) despite his promise of gentleness (Matt. 11:29).
To truly receive Christ, we have to disown everything we thought was to our advantage (Phil. 3:7–8). The gospel offends us because it “deprives us of all credit for wisdom, virtue, and righteousness.”[4] Some people use intellectual arguments to excuse their refusal to trust Jesus. Others use less sophisticated methods. J. H. Bavinck puts it like this: “fear of the future, fear of the pitiless discovery of his own insignificance, fear of death, and fear of God—all that dark and somber fear which lives and hides in the inner man is covered with a pattern of banter and lightheartedness.”[5] Either way, refusal to trust in Jesus is always a matter of the heart; it is never simply about mental hurdles.
Unbelief Is Contrary to Our Deepest Desires
Unbelief is dissatisfying because we are wired to know God. The teenager who rebels against her parents violates deeper desires. She wants acceptance, security, and love. Rejecting her parents drives her further from what she truly wants and needs. So it is with unbelief. The peace and healing God promises, and which everyone desires, cannot be experienced by unbelievers. Here’s how Isaiah put it: “‘Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. There is no peace’ says my God, ‘for the wicked’” (57:20–21). Truly, “Our restless spirits yearn for thee, where’er our changeful lot is cast.”[6] No matter how intelligent, competent, and lovely unbelievers are, because they reject God they are “wandering through life aimlessly, not knowing the right perspective on the simplest things of life.”[7] That is contrary to our deeper desires. Paul describes non-Christians in terms of homelessness. As aliens and strangers they have “no hope” and are “without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). I’ve never been homeless, but I’ve been away from home—where I belong—for too long. Unbelief keeps people from being where they belong.
Don’t fear telling unbelieving friends what the Bible says about their unbelief.
Read More