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- Willed Blindness
Elisabeth Elliot
Elisabeth Elliot (1926–2015). Born Elisabeth Howard on December 21, 1926, in Brussels, Belgium, to missionary parents, Elisabeth Elliot was an American missionary, author, and speaker known for her writings on faith and suffering. Raised in a devout family, she moved to the U.S. as a child and graduated from Wheaton College in 1948 with a degree in Greek. In 1952, she went to Ecuador as a missionary, where she met and married Jim Elliot in 1953. After Jim and four others were killed by Waorani tribesmen in 1956, Elisabeth continued ministering to the Waorani, living among them with her daughter, Valerie, for two years, leading to many conversions. She returned to the U.S. in 1963, becoming a prolific author and speaker, penning Through Gates of Splendor (1957), Shadow of the Almighty (1958), Passion and Purity (1984), and Let Me Be a Woman (1976), emphasizing obedience to God. Elliot hosted the radio program Gateway to Joy from 1988 to 2001, reaching a global audience. Married three times—to Jim Elliot, Addison Leitch (1969–1973, until his death), and Lars Gren (1977–2015)—she died of dementia on June 15, 2015, in Magnolia, Massachusetts. Elliot said, “The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian makes me a different kind of woman.”
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Elisabeth Elliot preaches about the consequences of deliberate deception and the danger of holding onto darkness within ourselves, which can lead others away from the light of Jesus Christ. She emphasizes that God is pure light without any darkness, and if we harbor darkness within us, we risk drawing others into that darkness. The story of Elymas serves as a warning against willfully falsifying the truth and the resulting spiritual blindness that follows such deception.
Willed Blindness
In Paphos there lived a sorcerer named Elymas, who posed as a prophet. He belonged to the governor's retinue. Seized with jealousy because the governor wanted to hear the word of the Lord from Paul and Barnabas, Elymas tried to turn him aside from faith. Having seen the light, Elymas preferred darkness and preferred also that others remain in darkness if their turning to the light should turn them away from him. He thus willfully falsified the truth and was struck blind. The result of deliberate deception is blindness. The man who, to preserve his own position, deceives himself or another, is a swindler (this is what Paul called Elymas), "rascal, son of the devil, enemy of all goodness" (Acts 13:10 NEB). God is light and in Him is not any darkness at all. If we guard some comer of darkness in ourselves, we will soon be drawing someone else into darkness, shutting them out from the light in the face of Jesus Christ. "Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen" (Book of Common Prayer).
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Elisabeth Elliot (1926–2015). Born Elisabeth Howard on December 21, 1926, in Brussels, Belgium, to missionary parents, Elisabeth Elliot was an American missionary, author, and speaker known for her writings on faith and suffering. Raised in a devout family, she moved to the U.S. as a child and graduated from Wheaton College in 1948 with a degree in Greek. In 1952, she went to Ecuador as a missionary, where she met and married Jim Elliot in 1953. After Jim and four others were killed by Waorani tribesmen in 1956, Elisabeth continued ministering to the Waorani, living among them with her daughter, Valerie, for two years, leading to many conversions. She returned to the U.S. in 1963, becoming a prolific author and speaker, penning Through Gates of Splendor (1957), Shadow of the Almighty (1958), Passion and Purity (1984), and Let Me Be a Woman (1976), emphasizing obedience to God. Elliot hosted the radio program Gateway to Joy from 1988 to 2001, reaching a global audience. Married three times—to Jim Elliot, Addison Leitch (1969–1973, until his death), and Lars Gren (1977–2015)—she died of dementia on June 15, 2015, in Magnolia, Massachusetts. Elliot said, “The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian makes me a different kind of woman.”