I drive to work before the sun is up. I’m not awake so I don’t listen to radio. It’s just quiet. I’d left my radio tuned to the local Christian station this morning. I was in a bad frame of mind. I had the thought that I should leave it on; that I needed to hear something positive.
Joni and Friends airs at five a.m. Today she talked about Stephen Saint, son of Nate Saint, whom was martyred in 1956. I’d just watched a series put together by Stephen Saint, Walk His Trail, at my church. Crucially, I’d been connected to his story going back to Elizabeth Elliott’s book, The Shadow of The Almighty. That book changed the way I thought about God and missions; changed my life really.
Turns out that Mr. Saint was in an accident in 2012 and became a paraplegic. He’d been through plenty already, a murdered father, the death of a daughter and now this. If anyone should be bitter he should be---but he isn’t.
Three personal takeaways from this:
• God knows that Stephen Saint is a hero of mine as is Joni Eareckson Tada. So He knew the radio program would have an effect. He is faithful to encourage me even if I’m not faithful to have the right thoughts or attitude.
• God uses people but doesn’t keep them from terrible trials.
• I must be willing to trust to be used according to His choosing.
“My motto has been, ‘Let God write your story,' and that's what I have always done. Opportunity comes in strange formats,” Saint said. “You have a lot of people, nowadays, who want to write their own story and have God be their editor, when something goes wrong. I decided long ago to let God write my story.”
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