Sufrir Nunca Es en Vano

En la vida los tiempos difíciles nos llegan a todos, sin ninguna explicación real. Pasar por el sufrimiento tiene el potencial de devastarnos y destruirnos, o de ser una puerta de entrada a la gratitud y la alegría. Elisabeth Elliot no era ajena al sufrimiento. Su primer marido, Jim, fue asesinado por la gente Waoroni en Ecuador, momentos después de que él llegara con la esperanza de compartir el evangelio. A su segundo marido lo perdió por el cáncer. Sin embargo, fue en su sufrimiento más profundo que aprendió las lecciones más profundas acerca de Dios. ¿Por qué no hace Dios algo con el sufrimiento? Él hace, Él hizo, Él es y Él lo hará. El sufrimiento y el amor están inexplicablemente vinculados, como lo demuestra el amor de Dios por Su pueblo en el hecho de que envió a Jesús a cargar nuestros pecados, aflicciones y sufrimientos en la cruz, y llevó lo que no era suyo para que no tuviéramos que llevarlo nosotros. Él ha recorrido el último camino del sufrimiento, y ha ganado la victoria en nuestro nombre. Esta verdad llevó a Elisabeth a decir: «Lo que sea que esté en la copa que Dios me está ofreciendo, ya sea dolor, pena, sufrimiento y pesar junto con muchas más alegrías, estoy dispuesta a aceptarlo porque confío en Él». In life hard times come to all, without any real explanation. Going through suffering has the potential to devastate and destroy us, or to be a gateway to gratitude and joy. Elisabeth Elliot was no stranger to suffering. Her first husband, Jim, was murdered by the Waoroni people in Ecuador moments after he arrived in hopes of sharing the gospel. Her second husband was lost to cancer. Yet, it was in her deepest suffering that she learned the deepest lessons about God. Why doesn?t God do something about suffering? He has, He did, He is, and He will. Suffering and love are inexplicably linked, as God?s love for His people is evidenced in His sending Jesus to carry our sins, griefs, and sufferings on the cross, sacrificially taking what was not His on Himself so that we would not be required to carry it. He has walked the ultimate path of suffering, and He has won victory on our behalf. This truth led Elisabeth to say ?Whatever is in the cup that God is offering to me, whether it be pain and sorrow and suffering and grief along with the many more joys, I?m willing to take it because I trust Him.? About the Author Elisabeth Elliot was born Elisabeth Howard to missionary parents who were serving in Belgium. Upon their return to the United States they settled in Pennsylvania and New Jersey before she began college at Wheaton College. It was there that she discovered her love for biblical Greek, a love that would ultimately lead to her making the New Testament accessible to some of those for whom it had not been previously accessible. Wheaton College is also where she met Jim Elliot, who she later married in Quito, Ecuador, where they were both serving as missionaries.   Jim and Elisabeth had one daughter, Valerie, who was ten months old when her father was killed by some Waorani men who he, along with four other missionaries, had been seeking to develop a relationship for gospel purposes. Elisabeth continued working with the Quichua people of Ecuador when, through a remarkable providence, she met two Waorani women with whom she and Valerie lived for a year. They were the key to Elisabeth and Valerie going to live with the tribe that had killed the five missionaries. They remained there for two years.   Elisabeth and Valerie returned to the Quichua work and remained there until 1963 when she and Valerie returned to the U.S. Subsequent to her return to the United States, her life was one of writing and speaking. It also included, in 1969, a marriage to Addison Leitch, professor at Gordon Conwell Seminary in Massachusetts. He died in 1973. After his death she married Lars Gren, to whom she was married until her death on June 15, 2015 at her home in Magnolia, Massachusetts.   Elisa