Esther Hoole, Columbo, Sri Lanka

Having lived most of my life on an island that often feels like a spiritual desert, I’m so grateful for a Bible full of verses, books full of hymns and a huge family to pray and sing with. I know that were it not for these, life here would have been hard. But I also know that even if I had no one with me and had somehow forgotten all my verses and hymns, my Lord would still be with me, and that He would be sufficient. That said, I’m so glad the prescribed situation allows for a little more.

Which verses would you take to the desert island?

What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Romans 3:3-4

I walked away from God for two awful years. At the end of them, I hated my sin, but felt it would be an insult to His holiness to ask Him to take me back. This verse put all those fears to rest. It showed me that the insult was in assuming that His faithfulness was the same as mine. But unlike mine, His love was faithful and Christ would save again and again. That day, I repented and He saved. The fear of offending Him by my repeated pleas for forgiveness remains, along with my sin, but this verse continues to comfort and correct.

Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Isaiah 49:15-16

I don’t think everyone would forget me once I was on the island (one can always hope). However, I think it would be too easy to feel forgotten. This verse reminds me that on my Saviour’s palms, two nail scars spell out ‘Esther Hoole’ along with the names of all the other saints. And on the island, I’d remember that the One who really matters, will never forget.

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. Hosea 2:14-15

I love the book of Hosea. It convicts, comforts and makes me understand and rejoice in the love of Jesus so much more. This verse would remind me to be grateful for the island because God will have brought me there for a purpose. The island is part of God’s kind providence, it is far sweeter to be there with Him, than to have the best the world can give without Him.

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Job 38:4

(This verse represents Job chapters 38 – 41) I hate that there are wars and unpunished criminals in the world and that people are suffering and dying.  In my arrogance, I then fall into thinking that God needs me to make this right. That my abilities and accomplishments are necessary for Him to win. I think I’d struggle with this on the island as well. These chapters have always put things into perspective. They remind me that God does not need me to run the world. He never has. On the island, I’d find this convicting, and immensely comforting. The burdens of the world are God’s and He who spared not His only Son will do all things well, whether I am working to help or stuck on an island.

Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 11:16

I don’t think the Christian life is very different from being on a desert island. We struggle to survive, nothing is certain, we’re often lonely and hurting except for when we’re spending time with the Lord and we’re all longing for a better country. Being stuck on an island would just give me more time to think of and long for the better country, the city that God is preparing for us. Think of all the people I want to meet, of all the questions I want to ask, of all the things I want to do, more than anything, of finally seeing my Lord and being in His presence for all eternity. A few decades on a desert island isn’t much compared to all that!

Who would you like to find on the island for company?

It feels a bit mean to drag someone into this situation, but as long as it’s hypothetical, I’d pick the Apostle John. He’d have the necessary how-to-not-die-on-a-desert-island knowledge and he knew what it meant to rest and rejoice in Christ’s love. His identity was in being the “disciple whom Jesus loved”. That’s something I’d like to learn while I’m still on this earth, and he sounds like a patient teacher. John knew Christ and He saw something of Heaven, I can’t think of better subjects for desert-island-conversation.

Which song would you take to the island?

God’s plan for my family has always involved a lot of moving between contracts and countries. The constant moving is painful, especially when it involves being separated from one another. Before one of these particularly hard moves, I remember hearing my father sing this hymn, and I was as comforted in hearing it as I think he was in singing it. Since then, I’ve found myself singing it when things were most uncertain, when I’ve been most afraid and when I’m far from those I love.

Could I only remember one hymn, it would be Jane Borthwick’s 1855 translation of Kathrina von Schlegel’s 1752 hymn. I’ve sung it in every change, and in each of those changes He has remained faithful. It reminds me that God is sovereign, that His will is good and that really, the island bit doesn’t matter because I’m going home at the end of it all.

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heav’nly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hast’ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.

Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.