I recently read the most incredible thing…Elisabeth Elliot wrote this poem while she was in college:
Perhaps some future day, Lord, Thy strong hand will lead me to the place where I must stand utterly alone.
Alone, O Gracious Lover, but for Thee, I shall be satisfied if I can see Jesus only.
I do not know Thy plan for years to come.
My spirit finds in Thee its perfect home, sufficiency.
Lord, all my desire is before Thee now;
Lead on - no matter where, no matter how. I trust in Thee.…
My heart longs for this perspective… but it’s much more than perspective change, isn’t it? When you read her words, you get a deep sense that Elisabeth isn’t just parroting facts about a God she learned about in Sunday School. Even in the few lines we have here, there is no denying the intimacy that reflects a knowing, and a being known.
Having a faith that mirrors Elisabeth’s is this: By being perfectly known by Him and by knowing Him. Think of the people you trust the most in your life. A family member? Your best friend? The more I feel completely known by someone, the more I trust them. My family members know me more deeply than anyone else in the world. The realization that they know me - the real me - and love me anyways is such a wonderful feeling. I don’t have to fear being found out as a fraud. I am loved and accepted. The Lord not only knows me, but He made me. He knows every single thing about my DNA, my personality, my heart, my past, my present, my future, my depravity, my shortcomings - and I am completely loved and completely accepted. There is no fear or insecurity. So I can trust Him. Elisabeth wrote, “Lord, all my desire is before Thee now, Lead on - ” It’s as if she is saying, Lord you know what I want, now I trust you with it.
