Elisabeth Elliot: There isn't a day in our lives when we are prevented from doing the will of God. Not one day are we prevented from doing the will of God. There's only one thing that can prevent me from doing the will of God. Do you know what that is? My will.

Lisa Barry: That's a pretty sobering thought, isn't it? It makes me wonder how many times my own will has thwarted something that God has wanted me to do. I guess it's hard to grasp the fact that every decision we make during the day has some effect on someone's life. Stay tuned as Elisabeth Elliot explains more about seeing to it that God's will is done in our lives. That's next on Gateway To Joy.

Elisabeth Elliot: None of us is ever meant to be useless. A shining example of a person who could very well sink into uselessness but hasn't would be Joni Eareckson Tada. All of us know people who are severely handicapped whom God has used in the most remarkable ways. They can't do anything that you and I can do physically.

And how often do you stop and try to put yourself in that person's position? I happened to be with Joni at a conference. And I was in her motel room in the morning just when the two girls that were taking care of her at that time--this was a number of years ago--were getting her ready for the meeting.

And I saw the agonized detail of all this process that had to go on. The sort of things that you and I do in three seconds or two minutes, it took hours. It took these two girls two hours to get her up in the morning. I don't suppose it's changed very much. But she's not useless.

And not one of us is ever meant to be useless. There isn't a day in our lives when we are prevented from doing the will of God. Not one day are we prevented from doing the will of God. There's only one thing that can prevent me from doing the will. You know what that is? My will. Nobody else's. No circumstance. No lack of time. No suffering. Nobody's opposition can ever prevent one of us from doing the will of God. It is only our own will that can refuse. And God will not invade our lives.

I want to quote again from Victor Frankl's book. The more I read of this, the more swept away I am with the spiritual insights that this man has. He, as I mentioned, he hardly uses the word God at all, but every now and then he does. Here's one story.

He says, "It had been a bad day. On Parade, an announcement had been made about the many actions that would from then on be regarded as sabotage, and therefore punishable by immediate death by hanging. Among these were crimes such as cutting small strips from our old blankets in order to improvise ankle supports, and very minor thefts.

A few days previously a semi-starved prisoner had broken into the potato store to steal a few pounds of potatoes. The theft had been discovered and the prisoners had recognized the burglar. When the camp authorities heard about it, they ordered that the guilty man must be given up to them or the whole camp would starve for a day. Naturally, the 2500 men preferred to fast.

On the evening of this day of fasting, we lay in our earthen huts in a very low mood. Very little was said and every word sounded irritable. Then to make matters even worse, the light went out. Tempers reached their lowest ebb."

And then he tells how the senior block warden was a wise man and he tried to improvise a little talk that would cheer the men's spirits. And finally he pointed to Victor Frankl himself, whom he knew was a psychologist, and asked him if he had a word of advice for these depressed men.

He says, "God knows I was not in the mood to give psychological explanations or to preach any sermons to offer my comrades a kind of medical care for their souls. I was cold and hungry, irritable and tired, but I had to make the effort and use this unique opportunity."

And so he began to speak to them about the comforts that they could enjoy. And he reminded them that they were not in the worst situation that they could ever imagine. "I asked each of us to ask himself what irreplaceable losses he had suffered up until then. I speculated that for most of us, these losses have been really few. Whoever is still alive had reason for hope. Health, family, happiness, professional abilities, fortune, position in society--all these were things that could be achieved again or restored maybe some day."

Then he went on to talk about the future and he talked about the past and all the reasons why they had thanksgiving. Then he spoke about giving life meaning. "They must not lose hope, but should keep their courage and the certainty that the hopelessness of our struggle did not detract from its dignity and its meaning. And finally I spoke of our sacrifice, which had meaning in every case. It was in the nature of this sacrifice that it should appear to be pointless in the normal world, the world of material success, but in reality our sacrifice did have a meaning."

And of course I thought of Paul's words in Romans 12: "I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice." Now if you do that, the world is not going to be impressed, except perhaps with your stupidity. Why bury yourself? Why do a job like that? Why go off to some foreign land when there's so much to do in your own backyard? You know, all kinds of things that will be said if you make any kind of smallest sacrifice that anybody happens to find out about. But we are to make our whole lives a living sacrifice.

Waiting on God means this daily acceptance and presentation of my body as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. As I wait on Him, I am a waiter. I'm simply saying, "Lord, what can I do for You? How can I serve You? Show me. What may I offer?" And every day I can offer all that I am, all that I have, all that I do, and all that I suffer. Those are four deliberate, conscious offerings that I can make.

You go into your kitchen and you can say, "Lord, everything I'm going to do here, let it be an offering to You." And in Ruth Graham's kitchen there is a sign that says, "Divine service is conducted here three times daily." That's what it is, isn't it? We are never meant to be useless. Every day we can do God's will.

Nobody can deprive us, Frankl says, of the freedom of that last freedom--the freedom to choose my attitude. The freedom to choose my attitude. So think of the worst, most unendurable, kind of situation that you have personally ever experienced. Put your experience in place of the words "concentration camp" and think, "Is there some way in which I could change my attitude toward that thing?"

Maybe some of you right now are facing what seems to you to be the most unendurable situation. And your temptation is to flee, isn't it? And for any man in the concentration camp, that was no option. The barbed wire was there. There was no way. He had no choice to flee. The only choice that he had was to choose his attitude.

How do we do that? Well, you and I know the answer that we can do it in the strength of the Lord. We do it for Him. We are meant to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, faithfulness, meekness and self control. In what context do I learn those things?

You know the story of the lady that went to the preacher and asked him to pray that the Lord would give her patience. And so he put his hand on her shoulder and he said, "Oh, Lord, send this dear sister tribulations." She said, "Wait! That's not what I asked for." He said, "But that's the only way you can get patience. That's what the Bible says. 'Tribulation worketh patience."'

How am I going to learn gentleness? I'm not born gentle. My first husband Jim Elliot said I had a sledge-hammer personality. My second husband said, "You don't call a spade a spade. You call it a bloody shovel." I won't quote what Lars has said about me. It doesn't come naturally for me to be gentle. So where do I learn that? In the context in which I am tempted not to be gentle. Where shall I learn joy? In the context in which I am tempted to be miserable.

I sat next to a lady at a luncheon one time and she told me that when she and her husband were first married, within that very first year they discovered that he had some sort of a degenerative disease which was incurable, but which would eventually kill him. But it would be a long time and it would a gradual downhill slide.

And she said, "We went home that day and we looked at each other and we talked about what we were going to do." And she said, "We knew we only had two choices. We would either be miserable or we would be joyful." She said, "We decided to be happy. And God gave us 25 wonderful years together before he died."

We're never meant to be useless. Do the next thing. Ask God what it is. Accept the place where He has put you. Choose joy. He will give you joy in that place of service.

Lisa Barry: I like what Elisabeth said about thinking that certain negative personality traits are a roadblock for God. Just imagine the Apostle Paul and the person he was before his encounter with Christ. Would anyone have given him a chance based on his personality? No chance.

And what about your relationship with God? Are you limiting Him by your assumptions or beliefs? Well, Elisabeth Elliot has written a book specifically for someone like you who desperately wants to find God's direction but is having trouble getting started. The title of the book is GOD'S GUIDANCE: A SLOW AND CERTAIN LIGHT. It's not a book of formulas and fluffy idealism, but one that will reestablish the foundation for understanding how God leads. We all know that once you strengthen the foundation, the whole house gets stronger. The cost of that book is $11.

If you're interested in the tape series we've been hearing, that's available for $13. For either of those offers, you can write to us at this address: Gateway To Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68501. Or call toll-free: 1-800-759-4JOY. That's 1-800-759-4569. Our Internet ministry address is gatewaytojoy.org. Gateway To Joy has been a production of Back to the Bible.

Be sure and be with us again tomorrow when Elisabeth Elliot talks about finding that much sought-after commodity of peace. That's right here on Gateway To Joy.