Daily Gratitude Year 12 - Day 317: Today, I am grateful for a quiet heart.
"Lord, give me a quiet heart that does not ask to understand but confident steps forward in the darkness guided by thy hand." -Elisabeth Elliot
Most of you know I love Elisabeth (and James) Elliot. His life was cut short when he was killed in the jungles of Ecuador on the mission field in 1956.
James and Elisabeth were college sweethearts at Wheaton with big dreams of bringing the gospel to the world, starting with a remote tribe in Equator.
Elizabeth became a widow with a 10-month-old (named Valerie) when Jim and Nate Saint and three other friends were killed by the native tribe as they were attempting to connect with them. The men had guns, but none were raised in self-defense. They were all killed by spears that day. I can only imagine how it felt when they did not come home.
The mission did not end in death. The women went back to the same tribe with forgiveness, love, and the Gospel.
It is a powerful story of redemption and grace. The part of the story that always chokes me up is to know that the Elliot and Saint children called one of the tribesmen "Grandfather." Steve Saint remembers thinking as a child that the Huaorani people must be very special if his dad and the other men were willing to die for them.
Spot on! Right? They loved boldly and completely. They held nothing back. They learned how to "quiet their hearts" and say, "Not my will, but Thine be done."
To quiet our hearts is intentional.
Today, I am grateful for a quiet heart.
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