Candle In The Dark

 

Here's an illustration to begin with. If you had 50 dollars and you knew you were going to lose it somehow, would you
a) choose to guard it with your life, despite knowing the outcome or
b) choose to use it for a purpose that would last forever?

It was past three in the morning, when the words of Jim Elliot began playing in my head. I was actually trying to figure out a post for our youth's blog when these words surfaced :

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."                                                                                      Jim Elliot

A simple sentence, yet simple enough to carve a deep impact in me during RBS 2006. A brief history of Jim Elliot can be found here. After learning from a missionary about the Auca Indians in the jungles of Ecuador who had never heard of God before, Jim, together with 4 men, made a bold decision to reach out to them, in light of their violent behaviour towards outsiders. Even so, Jim and team never feared for their lives.

Everything went well at first, and the story would have been an "undramatic" one if not for the ending of it. Eventually, Jim and 4 of his companions were speared to death by the Auca Indians. It's sad but nevertheless, Jim and company had anticipated all of this before embarking on this missionary journey. One would have thought that it's such as waste - 5 brilliant and promising young men, martyred for God, without bearing any fruits of their labour.

But few years later, Jim and team proved the world wrong, when the Auca Indians eventually accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. Who would have thought that the very persons who speared this 5 men to death, would become Christians in the end? And that's the miracle, no one, but only God can do.

The irony of this story was, many years later, during Steve Curtis Chapman's concert, he invited Steve Saint ( the son of Nate Saint, one of the 5 martyred ), together with Mincaye, one of the Auca Indians who speared the 5 to death, on stage to perform together. There were no grudges between Steve Saint and Mincaye. The killings and deaths all seem to evaporate on that very stage. Tears flowed, and it was a very touching performance. Steve Saint even regarded Mincaye as his grandfather! That is truly forgiveness, in its highest level.

In the illustration above, the 50 dollars would represent our lives, whereas the options given represent how we choose to use our lives. Jim Elliot was a man after God's heart. He chose to use his life, even giving it in the end, all for the sake of those who had never heard of God before. Indeed, how beautiful are the feet of those who carry the good news.  

This story doesn't call for all of us to be Jim Elliots. But maybe it's time for us to re-think back on what we're living for. Shakespeare once wrote a poem, Life's Brief Candle. Would the story of your life be a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing? Or would your life be a candle in the dark?

Thrown in by,
macbee