Today marks five years since Elisabeth Elliot passed away at the age of 88.
Elisabeth Elliot was a missionary, author, mother, and wife of slain missionary Jim Elliot and perhaps no other Christian author has had a bigger impact on my walk with the Lord than she has. I was first introduced to her story when I was in middle school, and ever since I read the story of her and her husband and their missionary team moving to Ecuador to reach the natives there, I’ve been captivated. I even had the privilege to hear her speak when I was 11 or 12. Sadly, I didn’t grasp the significance of who I was listening to that day and don’t remember much of what was said. Youth is wasted on the young…or something like that.
As I read about her life, her decision-making process, how she spent time in the word, and how she always put God first in everything, I remember it gave me such a sense of freedom to be who God called me to be. She shined a light on the path of what it meant to be completely sold out to Christ.
“The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian makes me a different kind of woman.”
—Elisabeth Elliot, Let Me Be A Woman
In more recent years, I’m finding her works on suffering to be encouraging through different trials that I have faced, once again shining a light on how God draws so near to believers who are suffering and how some of the most precious, tender lessons are learned in the fire of trials.
“Of one thing I am perfectly sure: God’s story never ends with ashes.”
—Elisabeth Elliot, These Strange Ashes
Back in 2015, the New York Times published a great article on her life and her work, and it’s still up today. You can read it here.
I would love to be able to say thank you for the impact her books have had (and will continue to have on my life). I guess I will get to do that one day.
Previously published in June of 2015. Revised June 2020.
