"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature." Helen Keller

INTRODUCTION

I was born and raised in New Zealand, a land of 3,500,000 people and 70,000,000 sheep. It is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful countries in the world; and it provided all the scenery for the 'Lord of the Rings' movies. The perception for many New Zealanders is that there is only one way to go when you're tucked away 'down under' at the 'uttermost ends of the earth.' That way is out and  'up over!' I left New Zealand for the shores of Australia as a young man in pursuit of a better musical career; however, my plans and God's plans were very different. I met the Lord there in the early Eighties and thus began a much more daring adventure!

 

OUTSIDE THE NATURAL

After 25 years in Australia, where I was trained for the ministry, became a leader in a dynamic church and was privileged to travel extensively preaching in many nations, I then answered the call to relocate to America 10½ years ago. I came here at an age when many are looking toward retirement, but I was starting all over again from scratch.

 

Living in three different cultures means that several times I have had to 'forsake all' and give up the security of friends and family to obey God's call. When Helen Keller said, "Security is mostly a superstition," I'm sure she was saying that it is as illusive as the pursuit of happiness, which some think of as a kind of enduring state where the sun shines all the time. There is only one kind of permanent security available to humanity, but to find it, you have to look outside of nature to the supernatural.

 

END OF THE SPEAR

Jim Elliot was one of five young missionaries who, in 1955, gathered in Ecuador with a vision to reach a tribe of Indians, the Aucas, who lived deep in the rain forest. No one had ever presented the gospel to them. However, after several attempts to make contact, they were all martyred by the Indians, who mistakenly thought that the missionaries had come to harm them.

The news shocked the world. Many people wondered how young men with so much promise could waste their lives that way. However, when the journals of Jim Elliot were published several years later, they were found to contain this sentence: “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

 

ETERNAL SECURITY?

Clearly Elliot had come to terms with the dread of death that accompanies this life and was prepared to give away all natural security so that Christ might be glorified. And He was! Most of the Auca tribe subsequently came to Christ, and a wave of missionary fervor was sparked when Elliot and his friends became instantly known worldwide as martyrs.

 

As we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, let us hold loosely those things that are finite and hold firmly those things that are eternal. When the power of death over you has been destroyed, life easily becomes '...either a daring adventure or nothing at all'!