I took this picture last fall during a week-long interview trip I had with 20schemes in Scotland. Looking out over a scheme near Edinburgh one morning, I saw the sky painted with stripes of color which so vibrantly contrasted the drabness of the houses on the street. The glory of the sky immediately reminded me of Lamentations 3… “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”
Sometimes the neediness of the schemes is very discouraging – there’s so much wrong, so much abuse, so much depression, so much addiction, so much hurt, so much crime, so much hopelessness…and so little Gospel light.
But God’s faithfulness is never outmatched. And His steadfast love never runs dry. What is impossible with man – including bringing hope to the schemes of Scotland – is not impossible with God.
Mark 10:27 is an anthem of hope for every missionary…goer and sender alike: “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.’”
I will leave you now with a long quote from John Piper’s book Desiring God (p. 250-251). Today is the 64th anniversary of Jim Elliot’s death, so Piper’s words carry an especially glorious and sober weight:
“Here are two great incentives from Jesus to become a World Christian and to dedicate yourself to the cause of Frontier Missions. As a goer or a sender.
1. Every impossibility with men is possible with God (Mark 10:27). The conversion of hardened sinners will be the work of God and will accord with his sovereign plan. We need not fear or fret over our weakness. The battle is the Lord’s, and he will give the victory.
2. Christ promises to work for us, and to be for us so much that, when our missionary life is over, we will not be able to say we’ve sacrificed anything (Mark 10:29–30).
When we follow his missionary prescription, we discover that even the painful side effects work to improve our condition. Our spiritual health, our joy, improves a hundredfold. And when we die, we do not die. We gain eternal life.
I do not appeal to you to screw up your courage and sacrifice for Christ. I appeal to you to renounce all you have, to obtain life that satisfies your deepest longings. I appeal to you to count all things as rubbish for the surpassing value of standing in the service of the King of kings. I appeal to you to take off your store-bought rags and put on the garments of God’s ambassadors.
I promise you persecutions and privations — but remember the joy! ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 5:10).
On January 8, 1956, five Waorani Indians of Ecuador killed Jim Elliot and his four missionary companions as they were trying to bring the gospel to the Waorani tribe of sixty people.
Four young wives lost husbands and nine children lost their fathers. Elisabeth Elliot wrote that the world called it a nightmare of tragedy. Then she added, ‘The world did not recognize the truth of the second clause in Jim Elliot’s credo: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”’”
Claire in Scotland 