One of the most influential authors in my life has been Amy Carmichael. My third child was named after her with the whispered prayer that she too would love and honor the Lord with the fervor and desire I saw in the writings of the godly woman I loved to read.

Her words challenge me to lean into Him further; to listen more closely to the whisper of His Spirit; to trust Him more completely. Some of her words encourage and push me forward when it feels to me to be all vanity and futile. In this poem that follows I found one day the very voice of the Lord quietly calling up my faith to know that my eyes don't need to see what faith declares for it to be real and accomplished. He is omnipotent. He is soveriegn. He is faithful.

I stand in hope of healing. I stand in testimony of restoration. I stand in trust that you will be lifted from any burden or worry today. I stand to call up your faith with these words. He is all-powerful. He is complete in authority. He is continuously faithful. And He is for you.

Not in Vain by Amy Carmichael (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
Not in vain, the tedious toil
On an unresponsive soil,
Travail, tears in secret shed
Over hopes that lay as dead.
All in vain, thy faint heart cries.
Not in vain, thy Lord replies:
Nothing is too good to be;
Then believe, believe to see.

Did thy labor turn to dust?
Suff'ring - did it eat like rust
Till the blade that once was keen
As a blunted tool is seen?
Dust and rust thy life's reward?
Slay the thought; believe thy Lord!
When thy soul is in distress,
Think upon His faithfulness.

Though there be not fig nor vine,
In thy stall there be no kine,
Flock be cut off from the fold,
Not a signle lamb be told,
And thy olive berry fall
Yielding no sweet oil at all,
Pulse-seed wither in the pod -
Still do thou rejoice in God.

But consider, was it vain
All the travail on the plain?
For the bud is on the bough;
It is green where thou didst plow.
Listen, tramp of little feet,
Call of little lambs that bleat;
Hearken to it. Verily,
Nothing is too good to be.

(the collected poems of Amy Carmichael, Mountain Breezes, published by Christian Literature Crusade, Ft. Washington, PA 19034)