I told y'all that I'm loving re-reading Elisabeth Elliot's "Keep A Quiet Heart." Here's a short chapter she wrote that has been so encouraging to me, and I find myself re-reading it often.
"Have you ever put heart and soul into something, prayed over it, worked at it with a good heart because you believe it to be what God wanted, and finally seen it 'run aground'?
The story of Paul's voyage as a prisoner across the Adriatic Sea tells how an angel stood beside him and told him to not be afraid (in spite of winds of hurricane force), for God would spare his life and the lives of all with him on board ship. Paul cheered his guards and fellow passengers with that word, but added, 'Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island' (Acts 27:26, NIV).
It would seem that the God who promises to spare all hands might have 'done the job right,' saved the ship as well, and spared them the ignominy of having to make it to land on the flotsam and jetsam that was left. The fact is He did not, nor does He always spare us.
[Here's Emily's favorite part!!]
Heaven is not here, it's There. If we were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next. God is forever luring us up and away from this one, wooing us to Himself and His still invisible Kingdom, where we will certainly find what we so keenly long for.
'Running aground,' then, is not the end of the world. But it helps to make the world a bit less appealing. It may even be God's answer to 'Lead us not into temptation'--the temptation complacently to settle for visible things."
Ah, so wonderful to reflect on. Have a blessed day!
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