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.
