What if God asked you to give up everything? What if He called you to leave your home, your family and friends, even your country to go where He sent you? For one red-haired, spunky young woman, this is what following God meant. It meant a complete denial of herself for the good of others.
Amy Carmichael spent her life rescuing young girls from sex slavery in India. Her life is a testimony of the faithfulness of God when a person is willing to step out in faith and go where He leads. By herself, Amy was no one special. She had no extraordinary powers, no special gifts; she did not come from a well-to-do family, nor did she have any background in missionary training. All she had was a phenomenal trust in the power and strength of God.
Amy was a woman who was completely sold out for God. She devoted her life to helping, serving and loving on people who were unloved. Rather than live a comfortable, easy life, Amy chose to live in the slums, to interact with the lowest of the low, to show them that there is a God who cares about them. Some of the other missionaries thought Amy was crazy. A bit too radical. When Amy asked the mission if she could dress like an Indian woman and live with an Indian family to learn the language and the culture better, the response she received from the other missionaries was one of complete shock. They were speechless. Live like the Indians? Adopt their way of life, and conform to their culture? What a ridiculous notion, they thought! But Amy, in her stubbornness, insisted on living like a native Indian woman. She wore a Sari, and started traveling from village to village, proclaiming God's great news and inviting people to experience His love and forgiveness. People left their homes to travel with Amy, leaving their former way of life to follow God and share His love with others.
The last several years of her life, Amy spent confined to a bed after an accident that left her unable to walk. As her usual, no-nonsense, practical self, Amy made good use of her time in bed. During these years she penned many books about missionary life, her experiences on the field, stories of girls she had rescued, and powerful testimonies of God's provision. Even though she has been gone for many years, Amy still influences people with her story and her life by what she wrote.
Though she never married and never had any children of her own, Amy was a "mother" to many children who had been orphaned, abandoned by their parents, or sold to the temple as prostitutes. Many of these children lovingly called her "Amma", or Mother. After her death, Amy was buried in India and a small birdbath was placed over her grave as a headstone. Hundreds of children who had known Amy would miss their loving "Amma".
For Amy, following God cost her everything. It required her to step outside her comfort zone, leave behind all that was known and comfortable to her, and go to a country where she was a complete stranger. She never had the pleasure of marriage or the joy of raising her own children. All this she sacrificed for the God who had saved her and loved her. She decided that doing what God had called her to do was worth more to her than fulfilling her own personal pleasures and wants. What about us? Are we following God's calling on our lives? If God called us to give up what He required Amy to give up, would we be willing to do it? Jim Elliot once said: "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose". That's what discipleship is all about - following God, even when it costs us something. This is not an easy way to live, but it's definitely worth the cost. So what about you? Are you ready to step out in faith, and live out God's calling for your life? It'll be hard, but it's worth the challenge.
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