In SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY, Elisabeth Elliot chronicled the life of her late husband. From his youth in Oregon to his wrestling days at Wheaton College to his death with four other missionaries in the jungle of Ecuador at the hands of the Auca Indians, Jim was a sold-out believer. In 1948, six years before his death, he penned these words in his journal: “God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus.”
Jim Elliot died at the age of twenty-eight; David Brainerd died at the age of twenty-nine… both were abandoned to God. We are encouraged by these heroes, but how many saints will never have a book written about them? John described a strange scene in Heaven: “I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, ‘How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?’ Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.” (Rev. 6:9-11) Does God, “a consuming fire”, waste His children?
Is it good to be consumed by God? If I seek His kingdom first and His righteousness, will it be worth it in the end? If we could only hear from the “great cloud of witnesses” that has gone before! Would they tell us to hold back or would they tell us to press on? Would they tell us Jesus’ promises are false or would they tell us that even He couldn’t fully describe the joy to come? Would they council us to give less or encourage us to give more? Would they say “be careful” or would they say “be consumed”?
Would Jim Elliot retract his most famous journal entry or would he say “It is true!”? – “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:39