Fiona Steward, Cardiff

In celebration of a birthday, this is a republication of Fiona's original entry found here.

I’ve sometimes wondered what it would be like to go to prison for my faith and to have no access to a Bible. What verses would I have memorized or wished I had? That is probably the closest I’ve come to imagining a desert island type experience!

Which verses would you take to the desert island?

Having lost everything I hold dear in this world, I would want to learn Paul’s “secret of being content in any and every situation.” (Phil 4:11) What was his secret? Christ! “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13); “For to me to live is Christ.” (Phil 1:21). Paul’s contentment was in and through Christ. Paul could have said with the hymn-writer: ‘Thou O Christ art all I want, more than all in Thee I find.’ So to fix my mind and affections on the all-sufficiency of Christ I would choose these verses:

Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:25-26

Verse 26 became particularly precious when I was doing student ministry in France. In an oppressive and spiritually hostile place, I would cry this verse out in prayer again and again. The first part of this verse expressed how I felt; totally weak and helpless. The second part of it was a rock under my feet. It was like the Lord was saying to me: ‘However weak you feel, I am enough for you.’ And He really was.

In a way, I wonder if I could just live out of those two verses. But I would also want to take a verse which reminds me of the ground of these blessings:

   He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:31b-32

What greater proof do we need of God’s love for us than the cross and what greater promise of His provision?  It’s as if Paul is saying, ‘Since God gave you the greatest Gift of all, how is it possible that He would withhold anything else that is good for you?’  And so I need to keep my eyes on the cross; to trust Him and not doubt, to thank Him and not complain, and most of all to love and live for Him who died for me.

And leading on from this, what has given me the deepest comfort over the years? God’s sovereignty. If I know that God has lovingly ordered every detail of my life, then come what may, I can rest in this powerful truth: 

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who brought you out of darkness into His marvellous light. 1 Peter 2:9

How I need reminding in this verse of the honour and responsibility of belonging to God’s people: chosen, royal, sacrificial, holy and special.  We are not our own.  Our little lives exist for Him: to display the wonders of our Creator and Redeemer. And very soon, He will come back for His church and she will be presented to Him as His holy and perfect Bride to enjoy and praise Him forever.   

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

Lilias Trotter (1853 - 1928) was born to a wealthy family in London, she developed a rare artistic talent.  At age 23 she was told by John Ruskin (foremost critic of the day and her mentor) that if she gave herself up fully to her art, “she would be the greatest living painter and do things that would be Immortal.” At the same time a spiritual calling had also been growing within her and after days of agonising and prayer she wrote, “I cannot give myself to painting in the way he means and continue to ‘seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.’” In 1887 she felt the call of God to North Africa (very audacious by any means, but particularly at this time for a single woman!) and spent the next 40 years sharing the gospel in Algeria where she died.

I’d like to believe Lilias Trotter would be something of a kindred spirit, not least because I also appreciate art.  But she had a unique ability, which I would love to learn from, of combining her artistic eyesight with her spiritual insight.  She would see God even in the small things in the world around her and take spiritual parables and lessons from nature.  She recorded her observations in journals through watercolours and words.  Here is an example of what she observed while in the woods one morning:

…it was just a dandelion, and half withered – but it was full face to the sun, and had caught into its heart all the glory it could hold and was shining so radiantly, that the dew that lay on it still made a perfect aureole round its head. And it seems to talk, standing there – to talk about the possibility of making the best of these lives of ours.

For if the Sun of Righteousness has risen upon our hearts, there is an ocean of grace and love and power lying all around us, an ocean to which all earthly light is but a drop, and it is ready to transfigure us, as the sunshine transfigured the dandelion, and on the same condition – that we stand full face to God.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” Hebrews 12:2

Lilias Trotter knew her God intimately. She devoted herself to prayer and the Word and experienced profound communion with Him in her sufferings. This was the key to an entire life offered to God as a living sacrifice. She knew that by losing her life she would gain it and would not regret it 100 million years later. What better person to be with on a desert island, than one who could focus your eyes on eternity and say: “We can do without anything while we have God.”

Which song would you take to the island?

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

My heart can easily become distracted, dispersed and dissatisfied. That’s why I have often prayed the first lines of this hymn, to once again SEE Jesus Christ as the Lover of my soul, my highest joy and the only one who is worthy of my whole heart.

This hymn is a beautiful expression of all that Christ is to us because we are united to Him: ‘Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.’ Because of this union, someone has said that just as a groom makes vows to his bride, Jesus Christ vows to His church: ‘All that I am I give to you and all that I have I share with you.’  What more could we want or need!? This hymn also echoes the heart cry of His bride the church in response, ‘Eclipse everything else Lord Jesus, so that I desire nothing else more than I desire you. Have my heart Lord, have it all.’ And so this brings me full circle. May God increase our faith to say and know that Jesus Christ is enough, whatever our circumstances, and to give ourselves to Him.

Esther Smith, Beugen, Netherlands

I'm being honest, the prospect of being abandoned on a desert island doesn't sound entirely horrible right now. In the throes of studying at missionary training college, being a wife and a first-time mum to a baby who thinks sleep is for the weak, the idea of being far away by the sea seems almost luxurious! Choosing which verses I would carry with me, however, has proven to be much more challenging than anticipated. Perhaps I'm bending the rules a little by choosing two short passages rather than individual verses...but I would be lost without them both so they must come with me! 

Which verses would you take to the island?

In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight. Ephesians 1:4-8

Ephesians 1 (especially these verses) is important to me because it tells me who I am in Christ and where I find my identity. In a society that seems obsessed with image, identity and ‘finding yourself’, it's so important to ground myself in what God says who I am and where my worth is found. As a new mum, it’s easy to think that I’ve lost part of my identity. So much of my time is spent looking after this little person, there are days when I don't ‘achieve’ anything else - it can lead to frustration and feeling I'm not doing anything ‘worthwhile’ because I don't do the things I used to do anymore. So much of my own identity seems to have been swallowed up in motherhood. This passage helps me refocus on who I really am but, more than that, it highlights my sin: seeking worth in what I perceive as achievement and productivity (or in anything other than Christ and his finished work on the cross). God has redeemed me by his blood, I am his child. He has brought me into this season of motherhood. Living out the gospel at home in the menial tasks of mothering is what God has prepared for me to do right now. Any dissatisfaction and ingratitude I feel comes from a part of my heart that wants approval from others and to do things that are meaningful by the world’s standards. I need to come back to verses like these repeatedly and ask myself: "Where is your identity?"

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:25-34

This is another passage I return to again and again. In the interest of full disclosure, I listened online to John Piper preach this passage, how I apply it to my life mainly comes from that sermon.  As someone given to semi-frequent bouts of anxiety, I love that our Saviour has so much to say about it. As I read through this section I repeat eight truths to myself:

1.    Life is about more than our physical needs like food and clothing.

2.    God's creatures rely on him to provide without anxious hoarding! God can be counted on, he is God today and he will be tomorrow.

3.    Anxiety achieves nothing, it just makes you miserable!

4.    God adorns the lilies, which live a few years, will he not also delight in providing for me?

5.    The world is anxious about these things, believers are different, we should find our contentment in other things.

6.    God knows what I need.

7.    Seek first the Kingdom, everything else is secondary.

8.    God has appointed to each day pleasure and trouble, don’t bring tomorrow's troubles into today, God will still be God tomorrow.

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

One of my missionary heroes is WEC missionary Helen Roseveare, she went to glory in 2016. She served in the Congo as a missionary doctor during the rebellion in the sixties. She was taken prisoner by rebel forces, endured beatings and was raped. After a short time at home in the UK, she returned to Congo to establish a new medical school and hospital. Even after she had effectively retired as a missionary, she continued to minister through speaking and writing books, documenting the faithfulness of God to her.

I heard Helen speak at a meeting once but I would love the opportunity to really sit down and talk to her about missionary life: the challenges and blessings of cross cultural ministry, any tips she might have for a missionary-in-training, but mostly I would love to hear how she was able to keep praising God even after enduring such hardship.

Which song would you like to take to the island?

If I could only take one song with me, it would be How Great Thou Art. Surrounded by the natural beauty I imagine this desert island would have, I could sing with gusto:

O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art

And when I think of God, His Son not sparing
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And lead me home, what joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow with humble adoration
And then proclaim, my God, how great Thou art