Worth The Effort

Worth the Effort

[Moses] kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. Hebrews 11:27

Amy Carmichael, missionary to India and founder of the Dohnavur Fellowship, a refuge for young girls, once asked an insightful question: “How much are our eyes able to see of our Lord Jesus?” Some of us take a quick look and rush back into our activities. Others have blinders of unbelief and see little of Christ. Perhaps we see Jesus in a worshipful moment in church, but then problems and burdens rush in and blur our vision. Or we have our eyes fixed on ourselves and can’t see him at all.

Amy Carmichael believed that the more we know of the person or thing we’re looking at, the more we see. And it’s only as we look and look and look to the Lord that we really see. Even a woman of strong faith such as Amy Carmichael, who for more than fifty-five years rescued thousands of Indian children from destruction and abuse in the Hindu temples, experienced what it was like to get caught in the crush of life, to be pushed down, and thus to lose her focus. She learned, as Moses did, that it takes a conscious effort to look up to the Lord and to turn all her attention to him. But when she kept her eyes on the One who is invisible, she could keep going no matter what happened, whether it was physical infirmity, lack of funds, or other problems.

It is always worth the effort to turn from self-gazing to focus on the beauty and perfection of the Lord, to meditate on his character. Then as his Spirit breathes life through us, joy displaces discouragement or fear. —CHERI

Lord, I cast aside every request and petition, every care and burden, to sit before you and meditate on your beauty. Grant that as I go through my day I would see you in your Book, in your creative beauty in the earth and the skies, in your people, and even in those who are difficult and in great need of your love.

The Lord Jesus . . . is our Peace, our Victory, and our Joy. . . . From below things feel impossible, people seem impossible (some people at least), and we ourselves feel the most impossible of all. From the top we see as our Lord sees: He sees not what is only, but what shall be. He is not discouraged, and as we look with Him, our discouragement vanishes, and we can sing a new song.

—AMY CARMICHAEL (1867–1951), MISSIONARY TO INDIA