How Elizabeth Smart's Faith Saved Her

After seven years, Elizabeth Smart broke the silence, and spoke of her harrowing ordeal at the hands of her kidnappers.  Abducted at the tender age of fourteen, held captive and raped daily for nine months; how did she survive?  And not just survive, but come home to grow into a well-adjusted, successful young woman.

We all remember when Elizabeth was stolen from her bedroom in the affluent suburbs of Salt Lake city, Utah, June of 2002.. As days turned into weeks and weeks into months, with no word of her, many presumed her dead.  I do recall her family's unwavering belief that she would return, but after nine months, who really thought she would?

I will never forget a beautiful day in March of 2003, when my husband came to my home office with.. 'They've found Elizabeth Smart'.. and I said, 'You mean her body?' to which he replied, 'No, HER, they found her alive!'  To this day, I can still remember the thrill of it.. of how she beat all odds and returned home alive.

For years, the Smart family refused to discuss Elizabeth's abduction, nor did she.  I'm pretty sure they did not seek counseling for their traumatized daughter... or if they did, they did not make it public.  And yet, we watched her through the years grow into a lovely, poised, seemingly healthy young woman.

So how did she do it?  How did she go from kidnapped at knifepoint, repeatedly raped, not knowing if she'd ever see her family again.. to this beautifully composed, successful young woman?  Faith.. pure and simple, it was her faith.

Elizabeth broke the silence when she testified against her abductor, and then later at a women's conference called 'Overcoming the Unimaginable'.  In her own words.. she described how despite everything she went through, her faith never wavered - instead it provided her with the strength to persist.

In Smart's court testimony she explained how her kidnapper constantly used religion to manipulate people.. to get whatever he wanted.  For some.. that travesty might have caused them to question God and wonder if He had forsaken them.

Not Elizabeth.  She was quoted to say: "I know that we do have angels on the other side that we don't see. We're never truly left alone in our darkest hour."