I first learned about Betty Scott Stam through an Elisabeth Elliot talk.
Elisabeth Elliot's parents, who were missionaries in Belgium, moved back to the States when she was still a baby. Even though they were no longer “on the mission field,” Elisabeth's parents entertained dozens and dozens of missionaries, including Betty Scott, who was heading to China to marry her fiance and fellow missionary John Stam.
One year after Betty and John married in China and began missionary work together, they were captured by Chinese communists, held for an exorbitant ransom, and eventually marched to their execution by beheading. Betty was 28 years old, John 27. They had a daughter, not even a year old, whom they managed to hide before they were executed. A few days later, a Chinese Christian found the baby and delivered her safely to Betty’s family.
John and Betty Stam
When news of Betty and John Stam’s death reached the Elliot household, Elisabeth, who was just a young girl, was deeply impacted. She memorized the following prayer that Betty had written when she was only 18, and she wrote it in her Bible:
“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, and work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost now and forever.”
This prayer was written by a woman who had no claims to herself, who never told God, “I deserve this or that,” who never considered her will above her Father’s will for her. She had made the decision early on to live a life wholly surrendered to the Lord, even unto death.
Surrender doesn’t come easy to me. When things aren’t going the way I think they should, Satan is quick to plant seeds of doubt in my mind about the goodness of God: “What kind of good God would allow that very bad thing to happen (or prevent that very good thing from happening)?” As soon as I start doubting God’s goodness, surrender is nearly impossible — why would I willingly surrender to a God I’m not sure is even good?
That’s when I have to go back to the Word and renew my mind with truth. One of my lifelines is Psalm 119:68: “You are good, and You do what is good; teach me Your statutes.” Another is Psalm 18:30: “God — His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is pure. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.” And another is Psalm 84:11: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord gives grace and glory; He does not withhold the good from those who live with integrity.”
What these verses tell me about my Heavenly Father is the truth; what my hard circumstances might lead me to believe about Him is not the truth. Therefore, since what God’s Word has revealed about Him is my reality, I can gladly surrender all to Him — my plans, purposes, desires, hopes — and accept His will for my life “at any cost now and forever.”
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