Lisa Barry: I wonder how many of us are guilty of sugarcoating God's will. For example, if a group of college students were sitting around talking about what God's will might be for their occupation, most of us would conjure up some lofty assignment, like famous writer, president of a Christian organization or popular recording artist. Nobody thinks of God's will as being a garbage collector or being a missionary who gets beheaded. But as we'll find out today, many of God's assignments are not the least bit glamorous. Let's join Elisabeth now in Michigan as she talks about the importance of accepting any and every assignment from God. Let's get started.

Elisabeth Elliot: One of my life verses is Psalm 16:5. "Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup, and have made my lot secure." You have made my lot secure.

When Jim died, I didn't feel that 27 months of marriage to that wonderful man was a big enough portion. I was expecting that he and I were going to have at least 50 years together. 27 months, after waiting for 5 ? years! But the Lord is the one who assigned me that portion, precisely according to His wisdom.

"Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup," says the psalmist, "and have made my lot secure." Have you accepted the cup that God gives you? Remember?it begins with those three words: "I am willing." This is acceptance. It is a total, lifetime "Yes, Lord."

What did Mary say when she was perhaps sweeping the floor or spinning or kneading bread or something in that humble little home in Nazareth? Suddenly there was a dazzling visitor who had a staggering piece of news. He told Mary, this little girl who probably (scholars tell us) was somewhere between 12 and 14. She was engaged to Joseph, because in those days a Jewish girl would normally be engaged somewhere between 12 and 14. So probably she was maybe a teenager, maybe only 12.

She gets this incredible piece of news that she is to become the mother of the Son of God. What is her response? She only asked one simple question: "How can this be? I don't have a husband." But then it was a total acceptance. "Yes, Lord." "Behold, the handmaiden of the Lord. Be it unto me according to thy word." Or we might say, "Let it happen as You say."

When was the last time you've said that to God, especially when you're very worried about something? Let it happen as You say. Did Mary have a clue as to what she was in for? She learned eight days later, when they took Jesus to the temple eight days after His birth, that a sword would pierce her soul. The old prophet Simeon told her that.

As I've studied the life of Mary, I have no question that Mary had many swords. One, for example, when Jesus was talking with the disciples and Mary and Jesus' brothers couldn't get anywhere near Him. So she must have been hurt, because Jesus' reply was "Who is My mother? Who are My brothers?" I think that must have been like a sword in her heart.

Then there was the last time that we know anything about what Mary ever said. I wonder how many of you know, "What are the very last words that Mary said that are recorded in Scripture?" They happened at the very first time that Jesus created a miracle. It was in the village wedding, where the wine ran out. Mary, being a woman, was suddenly aware that the master of the feast was very greatly embarrassed. So she simply said to the servants who came to tell them that there was no more wine?these were her last words: "Do whatever He tells you."

What do you think it took for a mother to be able to say, "From now on, listen to Him"? Acceptance. How many times have you said, "Why me, Lord?" How many times have you said, "I don't understand what God is doing." Well, so what else is new? Who in the world do we think we are that we can understand what God is doing? We do know what God is doing.

The overall picture is clearly spoken of in Romans 8:29. You know what it says in Romans 8:28. "Everything that happens fits into a pattern for good, to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose." What is that purpose? The very next verse, Romans 8:29, tells us precisely what God's purpose is. "That we might be conformed to the image of His Son."

Do you want to be like Jesus? That's all I want. I want to be like Jesus. So I have to be conformed to the image of His Son. What does it take to make an image? Michelangelo made it sound very simple. He said, "All you need to do is take a block of marble and knock off everything that doesn't look like David." But the knocking off of everything that doesn't look like David requires many hammer blows, many chippings of the chisel, many raspings of the file.

Have you had some hammer blows in your life? Probably so. Probably some of you have had many more than I've had. Have you had some chippings of the chisel? Pretty painful things, aren't they? But then, every day there's the rasping of the file to get those hard points off, those sharp edges?the rasping of the file. What's it for? That Elisabeth Elliot and every one of us here might be conformed to the image of His Son?to be like Jesus.

When I was a college student, I loved that hymn that we used to hear: "I have but one sincere desire: that I might be like Jesus." I hope you know some people who are like Jesus. I wish I had time to tell you all the people that I have known in my life who set an example for me as people who were like Jesus.

I have in the back of my little brown notebook a list of?I haven't even counted them . . . 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16?16 women who have been very crucial influences in my spiritual life. Those are the ones that I knew in the flesh. Now I've got a list below that of Amy Carmichael and 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8?8 other women whom I met only through their writings. I thank God for the lessons that Amy Carmichael taught.

One of the greatest lessons is "In Acceptance Lieth Peace." That is what you and I are required to do when suddenly something happens and we think, "Why me, Lord?" The Lord has assigned me my portion and my cup and has made my lot secure.

As you who listen to Gateway To Joy know, I'm always reading poetry. I love this one. "Lord, here I hold within my trembling hand this will of mine, a thing which seemeth small. Only Thou, O Christ, canst understand how when I yield Thee this, I yield my all. It hath been wet with tears and stained with sighs, clenched in my grasp till beauty it hath none. Now from Thy footstool where it prostrate lies, the prayer ascendeth: Let Thy will be done."

My second husband was a theologian and a speaker and a philosopher. He said that a lady came up to him one time after he had spoken. She said, "Dr. Leitch, sometimes I don't understand God." I thought, "Who of us would ever claim to understand God? He moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform. He plants His footsteps in the sea." Ever seen any footsteps in the sea? Rides upon the storm.

Betty Scott Stam was one of those women on my list whom I did meet when I was just a little girl. She was on her way to China to marry her fiance, John Stam. About four years after I first met her, I was only about eight years old I think when this happened, my father came home with the newspaper telling of how John and Betty Stam had been captured by Chinese Communists and beheaded. I had made up my mind before that?long before I was eight, as far as I can recall. There was never a time when I didn't always hope and pray that God would give me the privilege of being a missionary. So Betty Scott Stam was one of those who had inspired me. So to hear that John and Betty Stam had been beheaded by Chinese Communists was a tremendous shock.

Now what does a little eight-year-old do with that kind of data? You might suppose that immediately I would decide, "Well, I don't want anything to do with the missionary life if that's what it's going to be like." But I had grown up on missionary stories. We had looked at missionary slides by the thousands. We had had many dozens of missionaries come through our home. My heroes were missionaries. So, far from changing my mind, it only made me all the more determined that I wanted to do whatever God wanted me to do, hoping and praying that it would be foreign missionary work.

About four years after that incident, I came across a prayer that Betty Scott Stam had written. It is a perfect example of commitment and acceptance. These were her words: "Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all utterly to Thee to be Thine forever. Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Use me as Thou wilt. Send me where Thou wilt. Work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever."

Lisa Barry: I wonder how many of us could echo that prayer with all of our hearts. Maybe you don't feel like you're there yet, but you do desire that kind of commitment. The best way to get there is to take daily steps in obedience. It means daily Bible reading and application of what you're reading. It means developing a missionary mindset as you read about Jesus and His disciples.

Something that will dovetail nicely with your Bible study is a collection of daily writings by Elisabeth Elliot. The title is KEEP A QUIET HEART. It will give you a lot to think about and to apply each day. The cost is $14.50. You can send that, along with your request, to Gateway To Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68501. Or you can call toll-free: 1-800-759-4JOY. If you're on the Internet, be sure and check out our Web site. You'll find our online product catalog, weekly program topics, transcripts and much more. That address is gatewaytojoy.org. Today?s program has been a production of Back to the Bible.

Be with us again tomorrow when Elisabeth talks about one thing you can always count on from God. That's next time on Gateway To Joy.