Be Still My Soul by Elisabeth Elliot
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the second time I've read this book. Ironically, I pulled it from my shelf looking for "comfort" words, instead of words like:

"God included the hardships of my life in His original plan. Nothing takes Him by surprise. Nothing is for nothing. His plan is to make me holy, and hardship is indispensable for that as long as I live in this hard old world. All I have to do is accept it."

I forgot how practical Elliot is, and true to God's word, and unyielding on the dying to self theme. Do you know how sometimes you're just sick of it, and if someone asks you to do something one more time you just think you'll scream? How sometimes it seems like it would be so nice to have no responsibilities, no none, other than eating cake or sitting on the beach, or anything that only involves the happiness of one person, that person being you? (If you have never been in this place then I think you have the gift of contentment and you are blessed!). Well, that's how I've been feeling lately (not the content part, but the other). So, I looked to Elliot for some good and encouraging words. Oddly, those words didn't provide balm for my soul, but they still did help me. She reminded me that "acceptance of circumstances, the first step in obtaining joy and peace, begins with faith"

I think dying to self has fallen out of favor with the Christian community--it has sure fallen out of favor with me lately! Consider this:

"All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies [Psalm 25:10 NASB]. About this passage Amy Carmichael once wrote in a note to a coworker, "All does not mean 'all but these paths we are in now' or 'nearly all, but perhaps just not this specially difficult painful one.' All must mean all."

More specific to the dying to self theme:

"As His servants, we lay down our desire for a certain quality of life, our insistence that our life must be arranged in a certain way to order to be acceptable. In a word, we deny ourselves."

So, while I didn't get the balm for my soul I was looking for, God sure told me that I need to get back to work on that dying to self thing. He must have thought I needed a good kick in the pants instead of words of comfort!

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