go to sleep

I am reading Shadow of the Almighty, a book about Jim Elliot, a missionary who died while he was ministering in South America. It is a really powerful book, for he was such a man of faith. A part that stuck out to me was from a letter to a family member, concerning dating. He was in the college at the time, and he was liked by many girls but he turned them all down. He saw dating as a non-essential, especially when he felt so fulfilled in Christ. He did end up getting married, his widow, Elisabeth Elliot (author of Passion and Purity) wrote the book. Anyway, here is what he said.

No one warns young people to follow Adam's example. He waited till God saw his need. Then God made Adam sleep, prepared for his mate, and brought her to him. We need more of this 'being asleep' in the will of God. Then we can receive what He brings us in His own time, if at all. Instead we are set as bloodhounds after a partner, considering everyone we see until our minds are so concerned with the sex problem that we can talk of nothing else when bull-session time comes around. It is true that a fellow cannot ignore women--but he can think of them as he ought--as sisters, not as sparring partners!

I've been meditating on this, the concept of being asleep in God's will. Not laying down and resting and occasionally opening our eyes to see if God is seeing how diligent we are, but being unconscious, knocked out by our love for Christ that we don't even feel when the opposite sex passes us by....unless God wants us to feel it.

I think the "if at all" part is extremely important, though many times this is the part that we decide to sleep on.