Lessons from Elisabeth ElliotНамуна

DAY 1: Becoming Elisabeth Elliot

Was Elisabeth perfect? By no means. Was she committed to living her life flat out for Christ, holding nothing back? Yes. She was curious, intellectually honest, and unafraid. —from Becoming Elisabeth Elliot  

Elisabeth Elliot, one of the most influential women in modern church history, was a young missionary in Ecuador in 1956 when members of a violent Amazonian tribe savagely speared her husband Jim and his four colleagues. Incredibly, prayerfully, Elisabeth took her toddler daughter, snakebite kit, Bible, and journal . . . and lived in the jungle with the Stone-Age people who killed her husband. Compelled by her friendship and forgiveness, many came to faith in Jesus.

This courageous, no-nonsense Christian went on to write dozens of books, host a long-running radio show, and speak at conferences all over the world. She was a pillar of coherent, committed faith; a beloved and sometimes controversial icon. 

In this five-day plan, we’ll look at excerpts from the new authorized biography, Becoming Elisabeth Elliot, by New York Times bestselling author Ellen Vaughn. Each day we’ll feature words from Elisabeth herself, taken from her private, unpublished journals, that will encourage, inspire, and challenge your own faith journey. 

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At age 20, Elisabeth Howard (Elisabeth Elliot’s maiden name) had led a disciplined, hard-working, spiritually rigorous life. She loved nature, music, poetry, books, and word-play. She’d developed standards on dating and physical affection that were unique in her Christian college. She had lived exclusively among other believers. She kept meticulous schedules with time slots for everything from devotions to study to work to exercise, 7 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., except for days she got up earlier.

She admired the professor who announced on the first day of class: “There will be no makeup work of any kind, for any reason. Sickness is an economic loss.” She appreciated the debate coach who didn’t affirm anyone for a job well done: “[w]e were more or less taught that when we did all, we were still unprofitable servants, which is a very healthy attitude to have.” She budgeted money carefully, writing about a train trip to visit friends: “I could afford to go... but the question is if it would be right to spend so much on mere pleasure. As yet, I’m not sure what the Lord would have me do.”

She respected her parents and other authorities, but also perceived their weaknesses, and trusted more in her own analysis of what the will of God was for her. Her character bore the influences of godly—and yet flawed—women she admired. 

Though Elisabeth sincerely doubted it would ever happen, she longed for a deep relationship with a soul-mate man, and for marriage. She’d drawn up an eleven point list of her “ideal man,” covering everything from his strong jaw to his love of poetry, music, literature, and nature to his “towering intellect.” Her number one characteristic: “Depth of spirituality such as I have never even plumbed. Missionary.”

Further, as she reflected on her older brother Phil’s wedding, which would take place late in that spring of 1947, Elisabeth wrote: [A friend] “was talking to me again today about love. There are different levels to which individuals love–I should be satisfied with nothing less than a complete and beautiful union of soul–a love of which time could never increase the certainty or decrease the wonder!”

Yearning for wonder, longing for some soaring soul-union, chafing at what was silly and less than fulfilling . . . at 20, Elisabeth was like a Talisman rose in a florist’s refrigerator, chilled, not yet open, and not yet rich with fragrance. Perhaps that would come. Her next day’s journal entry read matter-of-factly:

April 23, 1947. “Had a good talk with Jim Elliot—he is a wonderful guy. We both refuse to accept the [conventional] ‘Christian life and world view.’ May the Lord grant wisdom.”