A Day-by-day devotional

January 12, 2023

Blue Eyes

Chronological One Year Bible Reading Plan: Job 36-39

Scripture of the Day: Proverbs 3:1-8

I am very fond of blue eyes. I think they’re the most beautiful thing any person can be born with.

Amy Carmichael despised her brown eyes when she was a young girl. In fact, she prayed for God to change them to blue. God not answering her prayer became a big disappointment to her.

Later in life, the Irish missionary to India who fought against sexual trafficking and child abuse realized why God gave her brown eyes instead of blue. Her brown eyes gave her passage to sneak into Hindu temples to rescue abused girls. She would dress up like an Indian woman, covering most of her face and showing only her brown eyes. This way, Amy got to save hundreds of young girls, what she couldn’t have easily done, if she had blue eyes. That would have easily given her away and caused her to be caught.

Oftentimes, we do not understand God’s plans. There are even times when we despise the things that He gives us, the events that He allows to happen in our lives. It is only when the reasons behind God’s plans are unveiled before our eyes that we get to say, “Thank you Lord, now I know and understand!” However, until we get to that point, it is difficult for us to put our trust in Him and in His ways. We always want answers. We always want to understand the how’s and why’s. We ignore the fact that God knows what He is doing. Most of the time, unless we take the step that He encourages us to take, for the fulfillment of His plans in our lives, we will never get to understand. That is simply because He does not reveal all of His plans at a single time. It takes our faith and obedience. If we cannot trust Him with one step, if we want to have the answers to why He asks us to do something before obeying Him, we would never understand. Understanding comes when we get to the point of faith and obedience.

If Amy did not answer God’s call for her to serve as a missionary in India, she wouldn’t have found out and understood the reason why God gave her brown eyes and not blue. In the end, it is the very thing that she despises, among all the things that God planned out in life for her, that eventually led to the fulfillment of God’s plans and purpose for her life.

God gives us everything that we need to fulfill our purpose. We need not covet anything else beyond. In the words of Amy Carmichael, “If I covet any place on earth but the dust at the foot of the Cross, then I know nothing of Calvary love” (If, p. 68).

Reflection: Do you wait for answers as to why God has been asking you to move forward into something before taking the step? Or do you practice walking in faith, not by sight, in obedience to His call?

Prayer: Father, teach me to trust in you with all of my heart. I may not understand everything for now, but I know that obeying you in faith is the key to the fulfillment of your plans and purpose for my life. Lead and take me there, Lord. Amen.

References:

Iain Murray. 2015. Amy Carmichael, Beauty for Ashes: a Biography. The Banner of Truth Trust, PA, USA.

Amy Carmichael. 2012 God’s Missionary. CLC Publications.

Amy Carmichael. 2011. If – what I know of calvary love. CLC Publications.