“You can give without loving. But you cannot love without giving.”
One of the most famous missionary stories ever told is that of Amy Carmichael’s “unanswered answer” to prayer. As a little girl, Amy wanted blue eyes more than anything in the world! Her mother had always taught her that God answers prayer; so every night before bedtime, Amy would ask God to change her eye color from brown to blue. Every morning, she would jump out of bed, run to the mirror, and check to see whether God had answered her prayer. Every morning, though, her eyes were still brown. Was God really powerful enough to change Amy’s eyes?
As a child, Amy Carmichael had no idea what God was planning to do with her life. When an evangelist pointed out her need to give her whole life to Christ, Amy did. Serving God soon became her greatest enjoyment, and as she grew spiritually, her priorities began to change over time. When she was sixteen years old, Amy went shopping for a dress with her mother. They found the most beautiful blue dress in the store, but Amy turned it down, telling her mother that clothes were no longer the most important thing in her life. God was most important to her.
As she grew older, Amy’s desire to go to the mission field was so real to her that it felt like it physically hurt whenever she thought about it.
Eventually, she moved to the country of India. There, she would finally learn one reason God had sovereignly appointed her brown eyes. As she tried to help young girls escape from temple slavery, the kind of work she did required her to appear to others like an Indian woman. If she had been born with blue eyes, there would be no way anyone would believe she was really from India. The women of India had brown eyes!
Of course God would have been powerful enough to change her brown eyes to blue, but happily, He was also wise enough to leave them brown. On January 18, 1951, Amy went Home to be with her Savior, Jesus Christ, Who had taken such good care of her life from the very beginning.
When God says “no” or “wait” in answer to your prayers, do you trust Him or argue with Him? Are you content with how He’s made you and where He’s put you? Do you really believe that He has His greatest glory and your greatest good in mind when He brings things you can’t control into your life?
Psalm 139:14 – I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.