Made For The Journey is the inspirational story of Elisabeth Elliot’s first year in the jungles of Ecuador. Before marrying her husband Jim, Elisabeth served with three other single women among the Colorado Indians. Their goal was to learn the language and and develop an alphabet in the hopes of then translating the Bible.
Elisabeth overcame hardships and inconveniences in the remote jungle outpost. She tells the stories in great detail giving descriptions of people, landscapes, events, and feelings which draw one into the daily life she experienced there.
She shares her doubts and struggles, Elisabeth persevered as she felt confident of her calling.
“It is a good thing to have a clear purpose and to go after it steadily, and while I knew God had called me to this job, I often felt restless and uncertain.” (from page 97)
Gradually she came to realize calling did not mean the absence of struggles and hardships. She shares the lessons she learned with a beautiful transparency and explains:
“As we learn to know God, we learn that His ways are past finding our. We gaze into the abyss and cry, “Why?” Seldom does the Lord of the Universe explain Himself in any terms other than those found in His holy Word. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29).
God makes no mistakes. He does not fall asleep. He does not forget His loved children. He asks us, every day, no matter what the circumstances or adversities we find ourselves in, to trust and obey. He has so arranged things that we may not often fathom His sovereign purposes, but now and then He vouchsafes to us a glimpse of what He is up to.” (from pages 163-164).
In all she faced or experienced, Elisabeth Elliot reminds each of us to trust in the sovereignty and goodness of God.
*Revell Books has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions are all my own. This post contains an affiliate link at no extra cost to you.
Today I am joining … Moments of Hope and Destination Inspiration and Heart Encouragement and Tune In Thursday and Booknificent Thursday .
Ooo, I have not read this one yet! Sounds like a good one! I’m pinning this for future reference.
You will be blessed by this one.
Joanne,
I love the reminder that even if we feel sure in our calling, we will still feel restless and uncertain at times. I do enjoy, however, when God gives us glimpses as to what He’s up to (must be my “got to know” nature). Most of the time, though, we need to trust and obey that God knows what He’s up to! Lovely post sweet friend…
Blessings,
Bev xo
Bev, we so need to be encouraged in this way. I am so grateful the Lord understands our humanness and in His grace and mercy, gives us the glimpses so we continue to trust and obey. xo
Another book to put on my TBR list. I can see why you would be drawn to this woman’s story of service and discipleship. I love this quote “God makes no mistakes. He does not fall asleep. He does not forget His loved children.” Thank you for the recommendation, Joanne!
This was truly an inspiring book. While I knew of Elisabeth Elliot and have read other of her books, I had not known of her life before Jim.
This book in its original form is my FAVORITE of all Elisabeth’s books (These Strange Ashes), so I’m thrilled to be re-reading it in this new format. Thanks for sharing these lovely quotes. In my opinion, this book describes some of the reason why Elisabeth Elliot became Elisabeth Elliot.
Michele, I cannot believe this is my first time reading it. She shares her experiences so transparently which I so appreciated. And I would agree with you, this first year in Ecuador surely shaped her life so beautiful for all to which God had called her.
I love Elisabeth Elliott’s writings so I know this must be a wonderful book! Thanks for sharing about it, Joanne.
Sounds like something my daughter and I both would enjoy reading. I can’t imagine living as they did, but then again, not living with the love of Jesus Christ remains truly unimaginable. I’ll be putting this one on the “to read” list. Thanks for sharing Joanne. #heartencouragementThursday
Kristi, I cannot even count the times I have said, “I would not want to live without Him in my life”. We need Him even more than we think we do. Blessings!