Tag: Amy Carmichael

Broken Pieces

Have you ever come to the end of some portion of your life and looking back felt a sense of accomplishment that you had done well? A sort of Apostle Paul confession, “7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7 (ESV)

Although, by the grace of God I have managed to finish one or two things in my life, it is almost never with a cry of victory. It is usually with a whimper and a sigh, with more gratitude for having managed to survive the experience than triumph. Frequently lately, I have been reminded of the following favorite devotional written by Amy Carmichael: John 6:10-12 NIV

10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.”

Have you ever felt at the end of the day that you had nothing to offer but ‘broken pieces’ of things?

“In the morning we put our day in the Lord’s hands. Then we began to do His work, but we were not able to do nearly as much as we had hoped. Interruptions came and broke up our plans, and the evening finds us a little disappointed. ‘I hoped to do so much, and I have done nothing worth bringing to Thee’—and that is how we feel. I have been finding new comfort in the two words, which are used by the four evangelists in telling the end of the story of the feeding of the Five Thousand. They speak of ‘broken pieces’ and the same words are used by two in telling of the later miracle. There was nothing left over but broken pieces, and yet of those fragments our Lord said, Gather them up that nothing be lost. Even so, our dear Lord cares for the broken pieces of our lives, the fragments of all we meant to do, the little that we have to gather up and offer, and He will use even these fragments. He will not let even the least of our little broken things be lost.” Amy Carmichael from Edges of His Ways

I am staring down at my bits and pieces, tonight, thinking that there is not much left of my pathetic little lunch I offered to the Lord. Still, I have more pieces than I did when I first gave it.

Father, please gather the broken pieces of my offering so that nothing (no one) will be lost.

When my son and his wife were running the Los Angeles marathon to raise money to dig wells in Africa, I spent a lot of time looking for inspirational quotes to pester them with while they trained. You know, on one of those apps that speak your likes and words to them while they run. I found a common theme running through the quotes:

Everyone who finishes a marathon is a winner whether they come in first or last! Anyone who undergoes the discipline to train, endures the weather, traffic, aches, pains, and stays with it all the way to the finish line has accomplished at least a victory over himself or herself. They have attempted what others avoided. They have finished something, even if it is with a whimper.

The winners say, “Not somehow, but triumphantly!”

I guess I am more in the category of “not triumphantly, but somehow”.

So how can I go forward? I have to believe-Lamentations 3:22-24 (ESV)

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”

Every morning I reach out for a larger portion of the Lord’s love and mercy, which He says, will never run low. Every morning there is a new supply. It is GRACE! Ravi Zacharias often quotes this poem although the original author is not known:

A New Start

He came to me with a quivering lip,

The lesson was done,

Have you a new sheet for me, dear teacher,

I’ve spoiled this one.

So I took his sheet all soiled and blotted

And gave him a new one, all unspotted

And into his tired heart I cried,

Do better now, my child.

I came to the Father with a trembling soul,

The day was done.

Have You a new day for me, Dear Master,

I’ve spoiled this one.

So He took my day all soiled and blotted

And He gave me a new one, all unspotted.

And into my weary heart He cried,

Do better now, My child.

—from an Elementary School Teacher

Loneliness or Solitude

Much has been said and written in the last few years regarding the concept of “community” in the family of believers. I do not disagree with the principle involved. We need community, fellowship, and to each use our God-given gifts as parts of the whole that makes up the body of Christ.

Somehow, that teaching seems to overlook the fact that for whatever reason some do not have a community. Some are serving where they do not have access to other believers. There are those who in answering the call of God, or for refusing to compromise their convictions for companionship, feel very alone.

Certainly if at all possible, one should seek out other believers as Hebrews 10:24-25(ESV) states, “24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another”.

In the mean time, while you are searching, here are some suggestions to redeem the time of loneliness.

First, turn your moments of aloneness into a garden of solitude. Let God redeem your alone time as an opportunity to focus on and fellowship with Him. Henri Nouwen suggests,

“To live a spiritual life we must first find the courage to enter into the desert of our loneliness and to change it by gentle and persistent efforts into a garden of solitude. This requires not only courage but also a strong faith.”[i]

The following is an old German Hymn that expresses this so well.

The Paradise of God

Where the heart of God is resting,

I have found my rest;

Christ who found me in the desert,

Laid me on His breast.

There in deep unhindered fullness

Doth my joy flow free—

On through everlasting ages,

Lord, beholding Thee.

There I find a blessed stillness

In His courts of love;

All below but strife and darkness,

Cloudless peace above.

‘Tis a solitary pathway

To that fair retreat—

Where in deep and sweet communion

Sit I at His feet.

In that glorious isolation,

Loneliness how blest,

From the windy storm and tempest

Have I found my rest.

Learning from Thy lips for ever

All the Father’s heart,

Thou hast, in that joy eternal,

Chosen me my part.

There, where Jesus, Jesus only,

Fills each heart and tongue,

Where Himself is all the radiance

And Himself the song.

Here, who follows Him the nearest,

Needs must walk alone;

There like many seas the chorus,

Praise surrounds the throne.

Here a dark and silent pathway;

In those courts so fair

Countless hosts, yet each beholding

Jesus only, there.

By T. P., (this was all that was listed for the author)

Second, realize that ultimately no one will be able to meet your deep emotional needs fully except the One who made you. Trying to meet those needs through another person leads to a grasping type of neediness. Nouwen says,

“No friend or lover, no husband or wife, no community or commune will be able to put to rest our deepest cravings for unity and wholeness. And by burdening others with these divine expectations, of which we ourselves are only partially aware, we might inhibit the expression of free friendship and love and evoke instead feelings of inadequacy and weakness.”[ii]

Christian writer Beth Moore puts it this way, “God is the only One who is not repelled by the depth and length or our needs”.[iii]

Thirdly, truly realize that you are never alone if you are in relationship with God. Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”.

The following is a quote by Elisabeth Elliot relating a thought by Amy Carmichael; both women were well acquainted with loneliness.

“Some of you are perhaps feeling that you are voyaging just now on a moonless sea. Uncertainty surrounds you. There seem to be no signs to follow. Perhaps you feel about to be engulfed by loneliness. There is no one to whom you can speak of your need. Amy Carmichael wrote of such a feeling when, a missionary of 26 (she had to leave where she was and travel to another country). “All along, let us remember, we are not asked to understand, but simply to obey…On July 28, I sailed and as the boat containing my friends moved off from the ship, a chill of loneliness shivered through me. Then like a warm love-clasp came the long-loved lines- ‘And only Heaven is better that to walk with Christ at midnight, over moon-less seas.’ I couldn’t be frightened then. Praise him for the moonless seas- all the better opportunity for proving Him to be indeed the El Shaddai, ‘the God who is Enough.’”

Elisabeth goes on to say, “Let me add my own word of witness to hers and to that of the tens of thousands who have learned that He is indeed Enough. He is not all we would ask for (If we were honest), but it is precisely when we do not have what we would ask for, and only then, that we can perceive His all –sufficiency. It is when the sea is moonless that the Lord has become my Light.”[iv]

God please help me find “Enough” in You today!

[i] Nouwen, Henri J. M. Reaching Out. New York: Doubleday, 1975.

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Moore, Beth. Breaking Free Updated Edition. Nashville : LifeWay Press, 2009.

[iv] Elliot, Elisabeth. Keep a quiet heart. Manila: OMF Literature Inc., 1995.