A pure faith

            tested as gold

                        by the fire of trials

                                    is more precious to God

than

            all kinds of service

                        offered as sacrifice

                                    by the work of my hands,

                                                though rendered to Him.

“[…] The only way she could learn trust and obedience was to have things happen which she could not understand. That is where faith begins—in the wilderness, when you are alone and afraid, when things don’t make sense…She must hang onto the message of the Cross: God loves you. He loved you enough to die for you. Will you trust Him?

I gave her St. Peter’s word about the trial of faith being a more precious thing than gold—and even gold has to go through fire to be purified. Fire is hot. Fire causes pain. But a pure faith would be worth far more to God than all the service she had hoped to render if poor health had not interrupted her plans.”

– Elisabeth Elliot, Loneliness, pg. 20