God trusts you

God trusts you!

You are a Reflector of the glory of His grace!

In the 1980s, I read every book by and about Amy Carmichael that I could get my hands on. I never forgot this one story from her life: 

Amy was an Irish missionary who spent 53 years in South India without furlough and founded a Fellowship that was a refuge for children who were being sold into the Hindu temples.

As with any great leader, throughout her life, her eyes were on possible successors. She would need someone like Paul’s Timothy of whom Paul wrote in Philippians 2:20, “I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.”  Amy was called Amma which means “mother” in Indian. Amy’s beloved Indian daughter Ponnammel died too soon. Then it was Arulai, a young Indian woman that Amy called “uniquely qualified, spiritually fitted and godly, the child of my bonds, my very ownest.” But Arulai fell ill and also died.

And then there was Godfrey, her beloved spiritual son who was desperately needed to lead the new boys fellowship as she had led the girls.  Godfrey was the tower of strength she needed in her old age, and she thanked God often for him. He, too, was taken from her suddenly. 

Mary, a nurse, brought the news to Amy by saying, “God has trusted us with a great trust. Godfrey is in heaven.”  Amy went into silence. The next day, she addressed her Fellowship Family with these words first, “Our God trusts us to trust Him…Let us rise to this great trust.”  After all the praying and grooming for this perfectly qualified leader of the boys, she spoke of “not doubting the love of our most tender Father.” These trials were very hard for her to bear, but she resolved to trust in the Lord’s Lordship.

So it was with Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, better known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the book of Daniel. They rose to the great trust God had given them. Yes, God took these godly young men to a foreign pagan land, not as prisoners, but as His ambassadors. They rose up to the great trust God had given to them. 

The Bible says that we as Jesus’ followers have been entrusted to “fight the good fight,” and to “keep faith and a good conscience.” Have you been entrusted with a hardship? What is your story? What is your fire? We are all totally dependent on God to reveal Himself to us in our fires, just as Daniel and his friends were totally dependent on God in their trials.

God trusts us and has entrusted us. You are His ambassador. Are there obstacles or trials that push out the question “Why?”  Enter the secret, quiet place and seek God. He is there. Your trust will increase as you wait on Him. He trusts you, His beloved child.

Have you perceived your trial to be random or without meaning, or to be some kind of punishment?  What if your trial came because God trusts you? What if your trial came to bear witness to a greater glory?!

Blessings and love in Him,
Beth Ann

To read the content on the back of the Reflector card from the Who you are Collection, please continue reading below:

The rainbow is a brilliant, arched spectrum in the sky created when sunlight refracts and reflects through droplets of water.  When the sunlight enters the density of a droplet, its color components refract at different angles. The separated colors reflect back through the droplet toward the earth, and we can see the beauty!

The sun is too bright for us to look at directly, but we can look at a rainbow that reflects the sun’s rays. We are not even aware that the Lord refracts and reflects through the facets of our personalities making His love tangible and receivable to those around us. He shines through us even when we are going through difficult times.

The Apostle Paul explained that we, as the recipients of the Lord’s lavish kindness, “would be to the praise of His glory.”   Ephesians 1:12

 
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