Sweetness Wherever
(Young Amy's Madonna Lily)
She grew, a plant of fair renown,
Where other lilies be.
They saw her white and golden crown,
And nevermore was she
Among the lilies of the wood;
For they that plucked her thought it good
That in another kind of room
That lily flower should bloom.
And to that room one day there came
A little wild-bird child,
But lately caught, and nowise tame,
And all unreconciled
To cages and to careful bars
That seemed to ban the very stars.
The lily looked at her and smiled,
As though herself a child.
And their eyes met; no word was said
That man could hear or say;
But thus the child was comforted.
And after, flown away
To far, far lands, rememb'ring this--
A comfort it were loss to miss--
Would even in this later hour
Sing joy to some dear flower.
O whosoe'er ye be, and where,
However straitly bound,
Your ministry is as the air
That sails the whole world round.
Do ye but fill your present room
With sweetness as of heavenly bloom,
Ye know not where it may be found:
Is Christ within you bound?
-Amy Carmichael
Do you feel bound by your present circumstances today? Bound by lack of money, lack of time, lack of a large sphere of influence, bound by trials, etc.? Christ is not bound. Let us joyfully serve Him in the "cage" He has graciously placed us in today and trust Him that He and His supernatural influence, in and through us, are not bound.
