THE GUIDE

The strength of a man consists in finding out the way God is going, and going that way.

“Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’” (John 8:12)

Two young Americans with high adventure in their hearts arrived in the city of Quito, Ecuador, on their way to the 'Great Amazon Rain Forest' east of the Andes. They were going on a six-week trek and planned to write a book about their experiences… They had been to an army surplus store before they left home and bought everything the salesman told them they would need… What more could they want? There was, it occurred to them when they reached Quito, one thing -- the language -- and when they learned that a jungle missionary was in town, they came to see me…'Just give us a few phrases,' they said… They described their equipment to me with great pride, and I could see that it was not going to be of much use. I wanted to tell them that what they ought to have was a guide…

Sometimes we come to God as the two adventurers came to me -- confident and, we think, well-informed and well-equipped. But it has occurred to us that with all our accumulation of stuff something is missing… What we really ought to have is the Guide Himself.

-- Elizabeth Elliot in A Slow and Certain Light


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