Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: All That Was Ever Ours
Scripture: Colossians 3:15
The Day's Doings
Odd things turn up when you are moving. Last month when we packed up the things in the old house and came to this one, I found a slip of paper with my mother's handwriting on one side and Mrs. Kershaw's on the other. One day back in the fifties my parents were going for the day to Hartford, Connecticut (from New Jersey), to visit my aunt in the hospital. Mother wrote a note to leave for Mrs. Kershaw, the dear old lady who would be coming that day as usual to help with housework.
"Please get anything you want from the refrigerator to eat. If you have time perhaps you could roll out some brown sugar cookies. The house is clean so there is nothing to do in that line.... Thanks so much. Have a good day. Lovingly, K. H."
Mrs. Kershaw wrote on the other side, "The Day's Doings," and left it for my mother. Mother is pretty good at throwing things away (lots of people are poor at that), but she also knows what is worth saving. When I read over the scrap of paper I thought of our beloved Mrs. Kershaw. I have written about her before--a widow, stone-deaf, a godsend to our home, utterly without guile or self-pity, unfailingly cheerful, who quite as a matter of course gave herself to all of us all of the time. Her list seemed exactly the paradigm I had been looking for. I wanted to write about peace. Peace is one of those abstracts we refer to rather often, but seldom with much real comprehension. "The Day's Doings" helped me to get hold of what peace is.
The Day's Doings:
1. put my soiled clothes to soak
2. had my breakfast
3. washed clothes
4. prayed for all and Alice's recovery & home safe
5. washed up dishes
6. made a fruit cup good for all
7. wrote to (her son)
8. just opened my mail, came 10:30 A.M.
9. making cookies, rolling in paper
10. getting nuts ready for top of cookies
11. resting and prayer for all
12. fixing pie filling and crust
13. resting and lunch 2 P.M. I feel lost without you to eat with.
14. washing up
15. resting and reading
16. prayer
17. making Jell-O
18. washing up. No more eats.
19. baking cookies and pie
20. washing up kitchen floor last. 6 o'clock, not a soul here. I didn't even see a stray dog. Yet happy.
* * *
Here was a life without conflict. That is what peace is. It could be argued, of course, that she had it easy: a few little undemanding household tasks to perform, a nice house in which to perform them, people who cared about her, her basic needs met. Plenty of people in this world have that and more, but would give it all for five minutes of peace--the peace that characterized the life of our little old lady.
If she had wanted to look for causes for self-pity or depression, she wouldn't have had to go far. She was old and frail, slightly crippled with arthritis; she could not hear a single sound; she had a son who almost never called or visited her; she had lost her husband; she had very few of this world's goods. But she went through her daily routines with gladness, punctuating them with prayer. She had the peace of God, which is just as Jesus described it--"nothing like the peace of this world." It was his parting gift to the disciples and to any who will simply take it. "I give you my own peace" is what he said.
I was thinking of all this as I sat in the living room of the house we have just moved into. My books and notes were spread around me on the sofa, my clipboard was in my lap. In front of me was a vast expanse of Atlantic Ocean, framed to left and right by the fading colors of autumn woods and, at the foot of the slope between them, the raw and ragged edge of New England--a great jumble of giant rocks, bleached by the sun, clean-scoured by wind and tide. The sea itself, miles and miles of it, danced, glittered, and flashed. (''Coruscated is the word," my brother Tom Howard said on the phone when I tried to describe to him what I could see. He's been my thesaurus since he was about five.)
There was nearly perfect silence all day long. I could hear no traffic on the road. Occasionally I heard a plane, circling northeast to land at Boston's Logan Airport, or the soft thub-thub of a lobster boat's idling motor. I heard the lonely cry of seagulls and the thunder and sigh as waves broke and retreated, but it was a day full of peace. I reveled in it. I thanked God in every way I could think of.
But someone I love is in the hospital today, waiting for a diagnosis which, judging by the symptoms we know of so far, could be a grave illness. The kind of peace afforded by the quiet house set in such matchless beauty is not really enough. It is not enough for my heart.
In the same talk in which Jesus spoke of his peace, just before he left his disciples to return to the Father, he said, ''You must not be distressed and you must not be daunted. " How, Lord, can I possibly obey a command like that when trouble--serious trouble--stares me in the face? What does peace mean now? Is it merely a feeling of calm? Does it mean to be soothed or comfortable? Is it a vague sense of well-being?
I don't know anywhere to look for answers but in the same old Book. The Old Testament sense of the word peace is, among other things, perpetual prosperity, security of tenure, health, and freedom from annoyance. The list almost seemed a mockery. It would certainly be a mockery if we could see no further than natural things. The man who sees only those has a "carnal" attitude, Paul says, "and that means, bluntly, death.'' A spiritual attitude, on the other hand, means life and inward peace. The New Testament explains much more about this inward kind. It comes from God. It is a gift, the fruit of faith. It passes understanding. It is Christ himself. "He is our peace."
The peace of God means the absence of conflict with the will of God. It means harmony within, concord with his purpose for our lives.
Mrs. Kershaw was not merely adjusted to herself or her circumstances. She was, in the deepest place of her being, reconciled to God. She never took a sedative or a tonic in her life. Like the weaned child spoken of by the psalmist, no longer frantic for satisfaction, she was at rest. If you had asked her her secret, she would no doubt have given a little shrug and a little chuckle. The sweet old wrinkled face would have looked up quizzically. She would not have known what to say. She simply did what the Christians of Philippi were told to do: "Don't worry over anything whatever; tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and the peace of God, which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus."
To make peace with a country or a person or God requires a transaction. To have peace, as people sometimes say, unless it is merely the sense of well-being that commonly goes with getting what you want, must mean that a transaction has taken place. One's will, along with everything else, has been offered up. Peace is the divine answer to our Yes, Lord.
Colossians 3:15 suggests that the peace of Christ is the "arbiter" of our hearts, ruling out all faithless response to trouble, all distress, anxiety, fretfulness, frustration, and resentment. It establishes order. Those who accept the grace of this gift know tranquillity which can withstand all assaults, a stillness unbroken by the world's noise, and a repose in the midst of intense activity--repose which a nerve-racked world cannot possibly give. For only Christ himself, who slept in the boat in the storm and then spoke calm to the wind and waves, can stand beside us when we are in a panic and say to us Peace. It will not be explainable. It transcends human understanding. And there is nothing else like it in the whole wide world.
Off Topic
Quix, here's the letter from Dutch Sheets.
March 2, 2007
Dear Praying Friends,
Greetings and blessings.
God is leading me to share a monthly report of what I am hearing from Him for America. Each report will come as close to the middle of the month as possible, though I chose not to wait until then to release this one. God has taken the prayer movement to a more decentralized apostolic paradigm; this is allowing more ownership to be taken on local levels. This is as it should be—the purpose of my update will simply be to make you aware of national issues/developments/events, etc. that need our concerted prayer. The question I will address each month is simply, “What is the Holy Spirit saying to the praying church of America?” I’ll usually limit each month’s update to three or four major issues.
Prayer Point 1: Baal
Through a season of tremendous warfare in November and December, as well as confirmation from many key leaders, God has exposed the spirit of Baal as one of the strongmen—perhaps the strongman—over America.
Baal-hamon, one of Baal’s names, means “the lord of wealth or abundance.” Chuck Pierce believes, and I agree, that this is the principality warring against the great transfer of wealth to the church. You must war against this spirit to see your inheritance released. Claim Jeremiah 51:44 (Bel in this verse is Baal).
Baal-berith, another of his names, means “the lord of the covenant.” The Hebrew word baal actually means “husband” or “marriage.” This spirit always attempted to cause Israel to “divorce” or break covenant with God and “marry” or align with him. Consistent with this, in so many ways America has broken covenant with God and married Baal. This is, I believe, the strongman behind most covenant-breaking.
Baal is the strongman behind sexual perversion. Homosexuality was and is one of his big strongholds. I believe all of the sexual sin and perversion in America is, to one degree or another, under Baal’s orchestration. You will continue to see God expose leaders in the church who aligned themselves with this spirit. Pray for the church to be cleansed and for Baal’s hold on America in this area to be broken.
Baal always goes after the next generation, trying to cut off the extension of God’s covenantal purposes. He is a violent spirit and even required human sacrifice. Abortion is under Baal, as is the “cutting” of today’s young generation (see 1 Kings 18:28), the vampire and goth movement, and the death culture in general that has so invaded America. Baal is leading the fight to avert the great awakening planned for the young generation of Americans today. Pray against and bind these efforts.
Witchcraft and occult spirits in general operate under Baal. So does Jezebel.
Pray against this spirit’s influence in your area as the Lord leads you. Be wise and discerning, and learn as much as you can about it before you take action. I have barely scratched the surface in this writing.
Also, for those wanting more information on this subject, I will be doing an in-depth six hour teaching on Baal and Jezebel at Destiny Bible School, located in Middletown, OH, on March 22-24. We will expose their activities and teach how to overthrow them. This will be one of the most important teachings I have ever done. Come and learn how to break this spirit’s influence in your personal life and region. The class is only $65.00, including the syllabus; go to www.destinybibleschool.com for more information.
Prayer Point 2: The Coming Youth Revival
I prophesied in January 2006 that the lid was coming off of the youth movement (teens and 20’s) that year. It happened. I recently heard Cindy Jacobs say at least 100 college campuses in America now have 24/7 prayer. Just last week I heard of three colleges that are experiencing many conversions and baptizing students in campus fountains! I was with my dear friends Karen Wheaton and Damon Thompson in Cleveland, TN, and Hamilton, AL, last week ministering to young people and youth pastors. I have never seen such passion. Karen’s ministry, The Ramp, is definitely one of the seeds—maybe the foremost seed—of this awakening. It is incredible.
Also, Lou Engle is resurrecting The Call this year in Nashville, TN, on 07/07/07. This was not an arbitrary date—God gave it to Lou. I heard a prophet in September, 2006, who knew nothing about Lou’s plans, prophesy to him that 07/07/07 is an important day to God and that God was speaking to him about an important event on that date. The Lord went on to say He was lowering a scepter into the earth on that day. It was an amazing word.
As I set myself to seek the Lord concerning this date and study Baal because of the warfare I was experiencing, the two issues began to dovetail. I found the number seven in most of the passages where Israel was coming out from under this spirit or warring against one of the Canaanite, Baal worshiping tribes. In seeking to understand the significance of this, the Lord reminded me that seven is a covenantal number.
In a covenant ceremony, an offering was repeated seven times or an oath was sworn seven times. The words “oath” and “swear” actually come from the number seven and mean literally “to seven one’s self.” I believe the Lord revealed to me that on 07/07/07, God is offering America the opportunity to end our covenant/marriage with Baal and re-establish our covenant with God as a nation. I am not implying that the full fruit of this will be seen immediately but that the stronghold can be broken and change will follow. This is explained in detail on the CDs and DVDs mentioned earlier. Pray for Lou Engle and this event and if at all possible, be in Nashville with us on 07/07/07. Go to The Call’s web site (www.thecall.com) for details. We are asking for 100,000 people to come.
Pray concerning this great youth awakening in general. It will be historical, breaking all records. God is on a mission! He won’t be stopped. Nothing is more important to Him at this time.
Prayer Point 3: Government
1) Begin now to pray for the elections of ’08. Just when it seems the stakes can’t get higher, they do. There are some of the frontrunners running for president who, if they were to win, it would set America back 40 years. We are now coming to the end of a 40 year wilderness cycle that began in the 60’s. We cannot afford another. Call forth the purposes of God in 2008.
2) Pray for a completion of what God has begun on the Supreme Court. I sense great lethargy and complacency concerning this at the present time. If we don’t get a third “right” Justice onto the bench, we will not cross over into a new season. Winning this war is imperative! Please pick up this assignment again.
3) Pray against terrorism and concerning the situation in the Middle East. It is absolute deception for us to believe radical Islam can be defeated through natural forces only. We must do a better job of picking up this burden. It is one of the callings of our time and a billion souls are hanging in the balance. I sense another shift is coming soon to this region. Please pray for our President, military, advisors, and all who are involved in this. Bind the prince of Persia and Babylon from prevailing.
Praise Report
The state of Virginia has become the first state (according to them) to formally apologize for the sin of slavery and for exploiting Native Americans. (Go to our web site to see the article.) This is huge! And it is very timely for the nation as we celebrate the 400 year anniversary of our covenant with God at Plymouth Rock April 29 of this year. On the 50 State Tour, the Holy Spirit called Virginia the “covenant root of the nation.” Can you see how God is preparing the ground for us to re-establish our covenant with Him and break our alliance with Baal?
Conclusion
As you continue to war for your personal regions and territories, please don’t forget the nation as a whole. Pray with us. We are winning this war. Thank you for all you do!
Dutch Sheets
http://www.dutchsheets.org.