Elisabeth Elliot was a missionary with her husband Jim in Ecuador. Jim was trying to bring the Gospel to an unreached tribe, and they killed him. Later, God opened the door for Elisabeth to go live among the same tribe who killed her husband. That is forgiveness. That is a life fully surrendered.
Here I was struggling over simple submission to my husband, and Elisabeth Elliot was fully surrendered. I knew that whatever secret Elisabeth had to that kind of life, I WANTED.
After many years of missionary work in Ecuador, Elisabeth Elliot began to travel and teach others how to live a life surrendered to God's Will. There is a treasure trove of her messages available online. It is here that I found a peace I had never experienced in my life. I listened to several messages and found each to be a key that opened another little nook in the treasury. Gems of wisdom. A steady calming rain bathed my soul and began to shift my mindset. It affected my marriage, my home, my soul's depths.
Over and over I heard it in my spirit: "In acceptance lies peace."
That ever elusive PEACE suddenly was within my own possession. And not through conquest but through surrender.
Total complete surrender.
Would it be possible for simple ol' me to faithfully walk this new road I had stumbled upon...this less traveled avenue called SURRENDER?
Would I say YES if He called me to live among the tribe who killed my husband?
Would I say YES if He led me to sell everything and serve others in a place where nobody knew me or appreciated me?
Or closer to home... Would I say YES to submitting to my husband (even when I feel that I'm right!)?
Would I have what it takes to be completely, totally, 100% all-sold-out to this life of surrender?
Your road may not be exactly the same as mine, but the pains and struggles we face all find their root in our UNwillingness to surrender to His plan. Surrendering my will to HIS. Surrendering my dreams, plans, wishes, comforts. And, yes, surrendering in the arena of my marriage. More on all of that later...
For now, as way of introduction, I wanted to point you to the wisdom that Elisabeth Elliot has so graciously shared. THIS LINK will bring you to "The Glad Surrender," part 1.
That is where I first sampled the peace of a surrendered life. That was my first taste. I crave more. I yearn for total complete surrender.
