Wisdom from Amma

Here's a little wisdom from Amy Carmichael, known lovingly as "Amma" (mother) by her children and fellowship family in India.  In this section of A Chance to Die, a biography written by Elisabeth Elliot, Amy Carmichael addresses seeking guidance from the Lord before making a decision, discerning a calling, and then standing firm against the enemy's attacks after you surrender to that calling and God's will.  There is great wisdom in her words that has been very helpful to me over the last few weeks.  I hope you will also find strength and encouragement from Amma today.

Finding guidance from the Lord:  “They found that [guidance] came through circumstances, through careful thought, through the general feeling which followed prayer and fasting, by an impelling sense of duty, or a word from the Lord.  This ‘word’ might be something remembered at the crucial moment, or a direct command… [a] word which ‘doth in a way known to Himself twine and bind the heart which way He pleaseth.'”  To this point, Carmichael “quoted Westcott’s note on John 12:28, 29, ‘The apprehension of the divine voice depends upon a man’s capacity for hearing.’”

Knowing your calling: “As for a ‘call,’ this was a matter of waiting at the Lord’s feel for quiet assurance. ‘A call is just that.’”

Standing against opposition:  After discerning and acting upon a calling, "let her prepare her heart for temptations… She will be instantly set up against all sorts of attack and this will increase after she takes the next step."  Carmichael suffered many attacks from the enemy, “and no wonder.  Her aims were otherworldly.  The purer the aim, the more vehement the opposition, human and spiritual, ‘for our fight is not against any physical enemy:  It is against the organizations and powers that are spiritual.  We are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world, and spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil.’”

All quotes taken directly from, A Chance to Die, by Elisabeth Elliot