Elisabeth elliot quotes do the next thing
Updated May 31, 2018 to contain an audio version of the post.
Righteous people (Jesus’ followers, saved by grace)
shall inhabit by faith in God and faithfulness to the Lord.
(Habakkuk 2:4 paraphrase)
Elisabeth Elliot
Elisabeth Howard Elliot Gren (1926-2015) was a Christian missionary, author, and speaker recognizable to many of you. She grew up in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, PA. Her first husband, Jim Elliot, was martyred in 1956, doing missionary work in Ecuador. Elisabeth’s radio program “Gateway to Joy” opened like this: “You are loved with God’s everlasting love, that’s what the Bible says. And underneath are Christ’s everlasting arms.”1
Elisabeth popularized an anonymous poem which I have adapted below. She used it when she didn’t know which way to rotate or what to do next. Elisabeth kept re-committing herself to trusting Christ, then she got busy doing the next right thing she knew that the Lord commanded us in Scripture. Elisabeth didn’t let go and let God. She trusted Jesus and did good like Psalm 37:3 teaches. Elizabeth’s faith in Christ was active, not passive. Jesus gives us forensic righteousness (justification) and Holy Spir
This famous quote from Elisabeth Elliot was actually originally coined from a very old poem, printed in a little book calledYe Nexte Thyngeby Eleanor Amerman Sutphen, published in 1897.
Its old-timey yet rich words strike a chord in our ever-anxious hearts.
“Looking for Jesus, ever serener,
Working or suffering, be thy demeanor;
In His dear presence, the rest of His calm,
The light of His countenance be thy psalm,
Strong in His faithfulness, praise, and sing.
Then, as He beckons thee,do the next thing.”
Even 122 years ago, saints wrestled with the idea of understanding faithfulness.
Sometimes faithfulness is doing the hard thing because you know it’s the right thing. Other times faithfulness might feel like blind trust, stumbling in the dark searching for light. More often than not, being faithful means putting your feet on the cold hard floor after your alarm wakes you from slumber. It is as simple as doing the next thing found in front of you, all to the glory of God (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
Our faithfulness is less about the outcome, but more about our hearts. It is not hinged on the theology
Elisabeth Elliot > Quotes
“We are indeed “miserable offenders.” We have done and left undone. We are foolish and weak and blind and self-willed and men of little faith. We run here, we run there, we form committees and attend meetings and attack the church and its organization and its isolation and its useless machinery and its irrelevance and ineffectiveness. But all the time it stands there, holding the Cross, telling us that there is forgiveness, that we have not been left to ourselves, that no matter how shocking the image that we finally see of ourselves in the light of God’s truth, God himself has done something about it all.”
― Elisabeth Elliot, On Asking God Why: And Other Reflections on Trusting God in a Twisted World
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“the God who controls the wheeling galaxies and who spoke before the foundation of the world must be the God who holds the smallest circumstance of your life in His hands.”
― Elisabeth Elliot, Let Me Be a Woman
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“Whatever dark tunnel we may be called upon to travel through, God has been there.”
― Elisabeth Elliot
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Inside: Do the Next Thing has been a favorite saying of mine from Elisabeth Elliot, and I thought we could use a little encouragement from her words today.
My heart can get too easily overwhelmed when my task list begins to look longer than the hours in my day. I’m sharing a favorite saying I remind myself that I first heard from Elisabeth Elliot, “Do the Next Thing.” The poem where Mrs. Elliot first heard those words was written by Mr. George A. Paull (scroll a bit from the beginning of the book linked), and it was from a book written by Eleanor Amerman Sutphen titled, Ye Nexte Thynge.
You can read part of the episode below (5 minutes) or listen in the to podcast (17 minutes)
Listen to the Podcast Below or Subscribe on Your Favorite App:
Related Links:
Learning from Elisabeth Elliot: A List of Resources
Do the Next Thing Radio Transcript from Gateway to Joy
Keep a Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot
This has been a favorite saying of mine from Elisabeth Elliot, and I thought we could use a little encouragement from her words today. The saying comes from an old Saxon legend as she shares below:
Have you had Before I dive into some of the best Elisabeth Elliot quotes, I want to make sure you read Elisabeth Elliot’s books. Her wisdom is biblical, and timeless. She was a woman who did not compromise. Throughout the years that I have read her books and listened to her, I have picked up on the following themes: surrender, faith, submission, and contentment. She will not encourage your fleshly desires. She will encourage you to die to yourself and to let Jesus be the Lord of your life as a woman, a mother, a wife, and as a child of God. So, use her words to inspire and challenge yourself. Dig in deeper to read her life’s story. Listen to her presentations and her old radio show. You will not be sorry. 1926-2015 Elisabeth Elliot was one of six children of missionary parents. She attended Wheaton College in the United States, where she met her future husband Jim. They both felt called to the mission field in Ecuador. In 1953, Jim and Elisabeth were married in Quito, Ecuador, where they continued to serve as missionaries. They had one daughter, Valerie. I have benefitted so much from her wise words that I included them on
71 Elisabeth Elliot Quotes
About Elisabeth Elliot