God has used Amy Carmichael’s life and writings to both spur others on to personal godliness and to encourage them to live out missional lives. One well-loved compilation of her writings is entitled Edges of His Ways. Below we have included a few excerpts that we pray will be encouraging to you as well. The editor of Edges of His Ways introduces her writings this way: “In thinking these thoughts with her, may our hearts be as ready as hers was to take what He offers so abundantly for our help—help not for ourselves alone, but to be shared. Freely we have received, so may we freely give” (Source).

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January 3

Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. (Ps. 90:17).

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord. (27:4)

How great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty. (Zech. 9:17)

And this God is our God. Let us be glad in Him today, and stay where we can see His beauty.

One thing I have desired, my God, of Thee,

That will I seek: Thine house be home to me.

I would not breathe an alien, other air;

I would be with Thee, O Thou fairest Fair.

For I would see the beauty of my Lord,

And hear Him speak, who is my heart’s Adored.

January 19

I wonder if this will find anyone who is discouraged and afraid? From the beginning of the Bible to the end, there are words of comfort and encouragement. We know that the temptation to fear is a very old one; millions of people have had it. But they have conquered, and so will you, if you take our Savior’s words of strength to yourself, and stay yourself on them. Be of good cheer. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (Matt. 14:27; John 14:27).

 

March 29

Because thou has been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. (Ps. 63:7)

As the apple tree [or any beautiful tree] among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. (Song of Sol. 2:3)

So there is joy and nourishment for our souls in the shadow of our Lord. Sometimes we fear as we think of the shadow—“They feared as they entered into the cloud” (Luke 9:34). But after those three disciples had entered into the shadow of that cloud, they found it so wonderful that they wanted to stay there. Let us not be afraid of the shadows. Let us not be afraid of clouds. We often meet Him in thick clouds. The shadow is the shadow of our Beloved. He is very near to the place where His shadow is.

March 31

Shadow and coolness, Lord,

Art Thou to me;

Cloud of my soul, lean on,

I follow Thee.

What though the hot winds blow,

Fierce heat beats up below?

Fountains of water flow—

Praise, praise to Thee.

Clearness and glory, Lord,

Art Thou to me;

Light of my soul, lead on,

I follow Thee.

All through the moonless night,

Making its darkness bright,

Though art my Heavenly Light—

Praise, praise to Thee.

Shadow and shine art Thou,

Dear Lord, to me;

Pillar of cloud and fire,

I follow Thee.

What though the way is long,

In Thee my heart is strong,

Thou art my joy, my song—

Praise, praise to Thee.

April 9

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23).

I think often we accept the cross in theory, but when it comes to practice, we either do not recognize it for what it is, or we recognize it and try to avoid it. This we can always do, for the cross is something that can be taken up or left, just as we chose. It is not illness (that comes to all), or bereavement (that also is the common lot of man). It is something voluntarily suffered for the sake of the Lord Jesus, some denial of self that would not be if we were not following Him. Often it is something that has shame in it (this, of course, was the earliest connotation of the word), such as the misunderstanding of friends and their blame, when the principles which govern our lives appear foolishness to them. It always has at its core the denial of self and self-love in all its manifestation. Self-choices go down before the call to take up the cross and follow. They fade away and cease to be.

 

July 25

Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. (John 2:5)

Yesterday when I read these words, I thought how good it would be if all of us heard and obeyed them.

They were spoken just after our Lord Jesus had said in verse 4, “Let Me follow out My own course” (this is what Westcott says is the meaning of the words He used to Mary)—the implication being, if you love Me, trust Me.

Mary understood her son and Lord. So she said very simply to the servants, “Whatsoever He tells you to do, do it.”

If there be love in our hearts, there will be confidence, and we shall be ready to say to ourselves just what Mary said to the servants (without any if’s or but’s), “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.”

 

September 27

Our God did not set His love upon us or choose us for anything in us, but because the Lord loved us—He loves us. (Deut. 7:7-8).

When I was a small child, hard-pushed for a reason as to why I had done something, I used to fall back on “just because.” So in this great passage of Scripture, we have the child’s word, the reason that is no reason. God loves us “just because” He loves. He has taken a company from the midst of another company (John 15:19); He loved us for no reason at all except because He loved us. Why? He must have had a special purpose. Have we discovered it? Are we fulfilling it?

October 17

Let thine hand help me. (Psalm 119:173)

This little prayer has often been mine. These short Bible prayers are just what we want in days when we are tired or hard-pressed, so I pass this one on for those who need it. You will find it enough. It is like the touch on the electric light switch—just a touch and the power comes flowing from the powerhouse, the power that turns to light.