A Note from Amy Carmichael (& picture from home)

I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. (Psalm 88:8)
Rejoice the soul of Thy servant. (Psalm 86:4)

"Very few of you are shut up. For those few who are, these words will be, I think, a great help. The way of joy is the way of release for our spirit, even though the flesh (which is the least part of us) cannot come forth.

"But I write the words for you today because I think perhaps some are shut up in another way: some difficult thing has to be done, and you do not feel you can do it; you are shut up in discouragement, and you think you cannot come forth. Thank God, you can. There is liberty and victory for you. Look up to Him whose joy is your strength. Pray this prayer: 'Rejoice the soul of Thy servant.' For you too the way of joy is the way of release."

~ Amy Carmichael in Edges of His Ways - March 11

The Lamb Shall Overcome

Near the end of December, I came to this entry in the daily devotional "Edges of His Ways" compiled from notes written by Amy Carmichael:

These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they also shall overcome that are with Him.
(Revelation 17:14, RV)

These last nine words have been truly spirit and life to me. Sometimes it seems as if the war were against us, but it never is. It is against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome. It is impossible to imagine anything else but victory for "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (13:8). So all that matters is that we should be with Him, "called and chosen and faithful."

O God of peace, strong is the enemy,
     But Thou art nigh;
And he must fall beneath our feet,
     Because of Calvary.

~ Amy Carmichael



For another excerpt from this book and a free book list including several of my family's favorite devotional books, see the caption of this YouTube Short: https://youtu.be/ZTHYmEvwRNY

Just Out of Sight

"'Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross' [Hebrews 12:2] is a great word for fainting souls.

"As I read the New Testament over and over, I am more and more impressed by the way suffering was taken for granted as something appointed; but always there is the thought of joy not far off. 

"In our Lord's private talks with his disciples, there is continually and clearly that "must" of suffering and the joy to follow. 

"We often act as if the place that is called Calvary had been taken out of the landscape of life or was an accident there.  It is not so; but just out of sight is the joy that is set before us, and there is the power which can enable us to treat the invisible as visible, the promised as present."

Amy Carmichael, July 22 in Edges of His Ways

[today's rose bouquets rescued from a fierce, hot prairie wind]

There is No Other Way

 

"His thoughts said, Is there no other way of learning how to help another but by the way of suffering?

"His Father said, Had there been another way, would I not have found it for the Son of My love, whom no thorn of pain had ever pierced, who was tender as a child to the touch? If it became Me in bringing many sons unto glory, to lead the Captain of their salvation by that way, wouldest thou win souls without a pang? Settle it once for all; there is no other way."

His thoughts said… His Father said…
by Amy Carmichael

Sorry if my posts have all seemed heavy and impersonal of late. Life has just been too intense to put into words for a while. And my words have been needed for answering emails instead of blogging. I will try to share more from life soon. For now, I hope something has blessed you from these quotes that stand out to me.

Not Even a Cup of Tea?

"The son said, My heart is disquieted within me. My soul cleaveth to the dust. Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O God.

"His Father said, In My hand are the deep places of the earth. Is there no blue sky? Have roses forgotten how to blow? Have birds ceased to sing among the branches? Hast thou not the sweetness of the love of a single little child? Hast thou no pleasant food – not even a cup of tea? Have tears been thy meat day and night?

"Gather up thy comforts, the greatest, the smallest, and thou wilt be surprised that thou hast so many to gather."

His thoughts said… His Father said…
by Amy Carmichael

His Father said...

Here's an encouraging bit of Amy Carmichael in the little book from Dohnavur Fellowship called His Thoughts said... His Father said...

"His thoughts said, The way is rough.
     His Father said, But every step
     bringeth thee nearer to thy Home.

"His thoughts said, The fight is fierce.
     His Father said, He who is near to
     his Captain is sure to be a target
     for the archers.

"His thoughts said, The night is long.
     His Father said, But joy cometh
     in the morning."

     • Amy Carmichael

Read more excerpts in this earlier post.

For the Lonely

"For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ

you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake." 

Philippians 1:29

Not Only... But Also

Not only love but also loneliness - Yes, even so

What though the nearest may not ever know

All that in this must be,

That being a secret between Thee and me, Thou knowest.

And it cannot work me ill,

Being Thy will;

And by and by

Thou wilt satisfy.

But unknown years stand up and stare at me.

The sun beats hot;

I look around for shelter, find it not.

Companion me;

Be shelter, Lord, to me!

O let Thy shadow be

As the cool starlit night - in noonday - unto me.

by Amy Carmichael

Lying Dormant

I was surprised once to meet a grown man who had never heard of sun-dogs. But when one has lived most of their life in South Africa, they don't experience the sub-zero (Fahrenheit) temperatures which most frequently produce these wonders. My description could not have portrayed half of the glory of this sight. 

A double sun-dog forming a
near-circle around the winter sun

Whether you live with frigid cold or extreme heat, you have some season during which plants lie dormant. And even the most temperate climes will not protect our lives from what look like dormant seasons. If you feel as if your life is "on hold" - even for years on end -take heart! God is at work in your life even then.

To quote once again from Amy Carmichael's Rose from Brier:

"In South India we have no snow; instead of snow we have great heat.

During the hot weather, when the leaves of the lilies fade, you (if you are wise) do not water the plant; you must not persuade it to make green leaves then; its powers are being used otherwise. For then, in this hot, silent time, the miracle is wrought that multiplies your lily bulb.

In cold lands instead of heat there is the silent snowtime; shall we not trust whether through the heat or under the snow?"

Bad Nights

"I want to return to the matter of a previous letter, the temptations of some illnesses, for I think that many may be where I am now. When “something to give you a good night” has failed, and a long string of failures, or what your nurse calls “bad nights,” lie behind, so that you begin to reach the end of your sanguine expectations – then is the time that mental mosquitoes, silly and small, can swarm about you, or something lizard-like crawls and darts. One, the worst of the tribe, changes color as you watch. Nothing is too fantastic for the chameleon.

"There may be no good reason for sleeplessness; the clamors of acute pain have passed. How futile, then, is this way of spending time, a way that will make tomorrow so much harder, so much more ineffective. With that comes the high, thin note of the questing mosquito, teasing the ear. It is a long-drawn Why?

"And then, like tired children, we turn to our Father:

"It is Thy hand that settles
     Tired flowers’ affairs, and piles a starry heap
Of night lights on the jasmine. Touch my petals:
     Put me to sleep.

"And still we do not sleep. Why?

"I have found that in the end that prayer is answered, if not by sleep, then in something even better, the peace that passes all understanding, peace without explanation, peace that can take the edge off the morning’s weariness and make the impossible possible."

- Amy Carmichael, Rose from Brier

O Lord, Why??

We all know and love many people who could be, and often are, asking this question:

"O Lord, why?"

This month we had two funerals at our little church - exactly a week apart. One followed the tragic death of a husband and father the age of my sister. He leaves behind a grieving wife who has dealt with far too many tragic deaths in her family recently. They also have four young, hurting children.

This week I spoke and cried and prayed on the phone with another deeply hurting friend. Her decades of chronic illness and pain have escalated to eleven weeks of extra misery which would cause any less faithful soul to give up. And yet she keeps pointing me to Christ.

As I ache and pray for friends, for my family, and for myself the question sometimes surfaces. "Why, Lord?!"

Amy Carmichael deals with this with such personal understanding in her book Rose from Brier.

I have read many answers, but none satisfy me. One often given is our Lord's to St. Peter: "What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter." And yet it is not an answer. He is speaking there of something which He Himself is doing; He is not doing this. He went about undoing it. "Ought not this woman whom Satan hath bound be loosed?" That was always His attitude to suffering, and so that blessed word is not an answer to this question, and was not meant to be.

There are many poetical answers; one of these satisfied me for a time...
But, though, indeed, we know that pain nobly borne strengthens the soul, knits hearts together, leads to unselfish sacrifice (and we could not spare from our lives the Christ on the Cross), yet when the raw nerve in our own flesh is touched, we know, with a knowledge that penetrates to a place which these words cannot reach, that our question is not answered. It is only pushed farther back, for why should that be the way of strength, and why need hearts be knit together by such sharp knitting needles, and who would not willingly choose relief rather than the pity of the pitiful?

No, beautiful words do not satisfy the soul that is confined in the cell whose very substance is pain....

What, then, is the answer? I do not know.

I believe that it is one of the secret things of the Lord, which will not be opened to us till we see Him who endured the Cross, see the scars in His hands and feet and side, see Him, our Beloved, face to face. I believe that in that revelation of love, which is far past our understanding now, we shall "understand even as all along we have been understood."

And till then? What does a child do whose mother or father allows something to be done which it cannot understand? There is only one way of peace. It is the child's way. The loving child trusts.

I believe that we who know our God, and have proved Him good past telling, will find rest there. The faith of the child rests on the character it knows. So may ours; so shall ours.

There is only one place where we can receive, not an answer to our question, but peace - that place is Calvary. An hour at the foot of the Cross steadies the soul as nothing else can. "O Christ beloved, Thy Calvary stills all our questions." 
Love that loves like that can be trusted in this.

I Wish Thy Way

Lord, more and more  
I pray Thee, or by wind or fire, 
Make pure my inmost heart's desire,
And purge the clinging chaff from off the floor.

I wish Thy way;
But when in me myself would rise
And long for something otherwise,
Then, Holy One, take sword and spear, and slay. 

Oh, stay nearby,
Most patient Love, till, by Thy grace,
In this poor silver, Thy bright face
Shows forth in clearness and serenity. 

What will it be
When, like the lily or the rose, 
That in my flowery garden blows, 
I shall be flawless, perfect, Lord, to Thee?

"Is it not good to know that of His work in us on earth, even as of His work through us, there will come a day when He will say, "It is finished"; the chaff will be all winnowed, the I slain - never to take life again - the silver cleansed from the scum of earth, the soul perfect as a flower, and we shall be like Him then, for we shall see Him as He is? [1 John 3:2]"

Entire post quoted from Rose from Brier by Amy Carmichael

Lotus Buds

Another free audiobook is ready to enjoy (here)! I only helped with a few chapters in this group project, but having read the e-book a few years ago, I remember how delightful the work was as a whole. 

I have quoted Amy Carmichael on my blog many times. To learn much more about her life and years of ministry in India, I would recommend Elisabeth Elliot's biography titled, A Chance to Die. 

But this little book is focused on the many children Amy rescued and raised - her little "Lotus Buds." As she writes to begin:

"The book has been written for lovers of children. Those who find such young life tiresome will find the story dull, and the kindest thing it can ask of them is not to read it at all."

Besides the samples of daily life and examples of quirky personalities sketched by Amy's skillful pen, the e-book (available for free here) contains dozens of beautiful photographs.

For All in Pain

- Amy Carmichael

Even Now

With each round of chelation pills, Elsa and I feel more and more like calling it our "chemo." Strength sapped, sleep disrupted, pain increasing, food turning against us...

This journey stretches on -- four years and counting. How encouraging, then, to remember that many long periods of wilderness, pain, and exile in the lives of God's children recorded in the history of the Bible each came to an end.

- Joseph's years in slavery and prison

- The Israelites' 400 years as slaves in Egypt 

- King David a fugitive in caves

- And more...

Sometimes it helps to look ahead and remember, "this too shall pass." 

And yet, the present should not be discounted. When I do, the discouraging lie that I am "losing all these years of my life" takes hold.

Rather, I am being impressed with the fact that even now I am living my life. This is my path. The path God can use to make me more like His Son.

How fitting that in the midst of these thoughts, I encounter Amy Carmichael's poem on the subject:

Before the winds that blow do cease,

     Teach me to dwell within Thy calm:

Before the pain has passed in peace,

     Give me, my God, to sing a psalm.

Let me not lose the chance to prove

The fullness of enabling love.

     O Love of God, do this for me:

     Maintain a constant victory.

Before I leave the desert land

     For meadows of immortal flowers,

Lead me where streams at Thy command

     Flow by the borders of the hours,

That when the thirsty come, I may

Show them the fountains in the way.

     O Love of God, do this for me:

     Maintain a constant victory.

Amy Carmichael, Rose from Brier 

Learning to do Without

153 THOU SHALT LEARN TO DO WITHOUT

The son answered his Father, saying, The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping, I am well pleased that the Lord hath heard the voice of my prayer. Right dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. Thou Thyself hast led him over death to the Singing Land. And I know that there is a joy of birds in that land, and as for those who dwell there, joy shall take possession of them, and on their head shall be praise and exultation. Therefore I will offer to Thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting.

And now, said his Father tenderly, thou shalt learn the lesson set to the weaned child. Thou shalt learn to do without.

"His thoughts said... His Father said..." by Amy Carmichael 

Our last Sunday with Aunt Dorothy,
whose name aptly means "Gift of God."

Looking Beyond and Higher

The sun is setting earlier and earlier - even before the recent jolt of changing from Daylight Savings to Standard Time again. 

While washing dishes one evening I suddenly looked up and was flooded with the joy of a prairie sunset. I had been focused so near at hand - on my world of dirty dishes and warm water. But when I looked beyond the window, I was blessed with a better perspective. 

One morning last month I woke up to the usual pain and fatigue. My focus was first on the table full of morning pills and treatments near my head. Then I found myself looking out the window at the drab and dead autumn lawn and garden. I don't know how long it look me to look higher, but when I eventually did, I was stunned by the brilliant glow of yellow leaves against blue sky!

I'll let you make the application in your own life - physically and spiritually.
Let's keep looking beyond and looking higher!

"Can I who made the green of spring not do that for autumn? for thy vanished green, for thy vanished flowers, give gold?" 

from Amy Carmichael's Rose from Brier

Look not at ... but at...

After some big lab tests this summer, it turns out that Elsa and I have very toxic levels of heavy metals (lead and mercury are highest) stored in our bodies as well as damaging mycotoxins from molds. My mercury is at the top of the “chart” and Elsa’s is three times higher than mine. Our lead levels are higher than people who work in smelting plants. The mycotoxins cause a long list of all-too-familiar symptoms. 

And no, we don’t know where all we picked all this up. (...knew that was your next question!) These are common issues with chronic Lyme and are blocking us from healing from it and many of its side-effects.

We prayed that we would be spared these diagnosis and difficult treatments, but God chose to walk us through them instead. We keep reminding ourselves to be thankful that they were brought to light now so that we can move forward. But it is still a hard addition to our life. Chelation medication for the heavy metals was added to our regime. The treatment schedule is 3 days on/11 days off – probably for three years.

Tonight we start our 4th round of these dreaded blue pills.

112 NOT AT... BUT AT...

The son prayed, Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and his thoughts said, How can one be glad or even peaceful when trouble is near?

His Father said, Before thy Saviour went to Bethany, when trouble was near, He was peaceful; and He said to His disciples, I am glad. For He looked not at the things that are seen, but at the things which are not seen. Canst thou not do likewise?

Look through the approaching trouble, whatever it be, to that which is beyond it. Then thou wilt find that thou canst be peaceful, and even be able to say, "I am glad." For the Lord sitteth above the water-flood and the Lord remaineth a King for ever. The Lord shall give strength unto His people: the Lord shall give His people the blessing of peace.

"His thoughts said... His Father said..." by Amy Carmichael 

We Follow a Conqueror

These days are short on strength and long on pain and other symptoms, but I did get some more roses in to enjoy after a bouquet famine.

And I read this encouragement:

Is it not a thought of exultation, that however crushed and crippled we may be, our Leader is marching to music all the time -- marching to a victory sure as the eternal heavens? We follow a Conqueror. ... It is only our bodies that are bound. Our souls are free.

Rose from Brier by Amy Carmichael

In the Boat with Him

Thou are the Lord who slept upon the pillow,
Thou are the Lord who soothed the furious sea,
What matter beating wind and tossing billow
If only we are in the boat with Thee?
Hold us in quiet through the age-long minute
While Thou are silent, and the wind is shrill;
Can the boat sink while Thou, Dear Lord, art in it?
Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will?

- Amy Carmichael

The End will Explain

Will not the end explain
The crossed endeavor, earnest purpose foiled,
The strange bewilderment of good work spoiled,
The clinging weariness, the inward strain,
Will not the end explain?

Meanwhile He comforteth
Them that are losing patience, 'Tis His way:
But none can write the words they hear Him say
For men to read; only they know He saith 
Sweet words, and comforteth.

Not that He doth explain
The mystery that baffleth; but a sense
Husheth the quiet heart, that far, far hence
Lieth a field set thick with golden grain
Wetted in seedling days by many a rain;
The end -- it will explain.

- Amy Carmichael