Teach me to number my days aright, that I may gain a heart of wisdom… satisfy me in the morning with your unfailing love, that I may sing for joy and be glad all my days.
Psalm 90:1-2
If only there were mountains!
Amy Carmichael
If you would live in victory over the circumstances, great and small, that come to you each day… and if you want God’s life and power to well up from the depths of your being… then you must refuse to be dominated by the seen and felt.
You say, “I could climb mountains if God asked me to. That would be a joy!
“But, here I stand, on this dreary seashore of my life, looking over this dreary backwash bay and a drearier shoreline – and beyond that, inland, no mountains. Nothing invigorating or inspiring. Nothing hard enough to inspire anyone…
“The whole of my life is like that these days – not hard, just dull. I would have chosen challenging over dull. A challenge that would make me want to achieve at any cost. It’s this useless feeling that is so devastating…
God says, “Have you looked up?”
“Up? I see nothing but a mass of clouds overhead. That’s all.”
“And nothing beyond those clouds? Look again. Don’t you see the hint of light beyond them? Aren’t the clouds themselves a marvel of controlled power – reminders of the pillars of cloud and fire?
“I must confess, my spiritual vision has failed, what with waiting so long upon my God.”
“So long…? You need to grow in patience. For after you have done the will of God, you must learn to wait to receive the full extent of His promise.
“It is written: ‘As for me, when I am poor and feeling heavy, your help, O God, will lift me up. I wait patiently, trusting that you will lift me up.’
“And it is also written: ‘I will abide in patience, and will praise you more and more.’
"So I ask: Have you tried to face your life – those dull, dreary days – with the lifting power of praise?
“You must look steadfastly through the visible, until the invisible opens to you.”
Prayer
My Father, so often I get weighed down under the demands of my own life. Sometimes I see little purpose in the endless repetition of little duties. Jobs done today, that need doing again tomorrow…
What is it, in the daily work you have given me to do, that is of eternal value to you? Lift my sights, Lord.
Let me see today, and each duty in this day, as you see it.
Selah.
Amy Carmichael, Figures of the True, 5.
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