Gaining Eyes to See Many Beautiful Things
By Sarah Mockler
With nimble, practiced fingers she raced to capture the living parable before her eyes in the fleeting moments of sunset — a clutch of white desert lilies she happened upon while walking to the Algerian slum she called home.
Lilias Trotter was no longer a starry-eyed missionary who was struggling to learn the Arabic language. Over these 20 years the desert had become home. She had grown accustomed to what had, at one time, appeared strange and foreign alongside her wealthy London upbringing.
She mixed colors adeptly — restful shades of mauve, striking cloisonné blue, and rich terracotta layering the striations of sunset that only the desert could evoke. Lilias placed the finishing touches on each pristine petal, leveraging the last rays of sunlight to title her watercolor sketch so that her heart could retrace the lines of what had so stood out to her.
The sun lowered below the horizon, serving as Lilias’s cue to wipe the paint off her fingers as best she could and secure her brush in the travel diary that accompanied her on every adventure. Later in the glow of candlelight, she recorded her thoughts in her page-a-day journal:
Today’s find was beautiful to the inward vision as well as to the outward. It was clusters of exquisite wild lilies — white and fragile and fragrant — growing out of the hot salt sand that drifts into dunes round the stunted juniper bushes that fringe the shore. Down below the surface, the storage of reserve material in the lily bulbs had silently taken place … and there they had lain, shrouded and waiting. The hour had come now, and no adverse condition could keep back the upspringing. The same Lord over all can store the roots in His spiritual creation, even though they have but smothering sand drifts around them. // July 22, 1909
A parable in the desert. These beautiful blossoms found a way not just to endure but to flourish in their desert surroundings. Without sufficient water and paired with high heat and humidity, they stood strong without a trace of wilt on their petals.
Oh, to be like the desert lily! To not merely survive these parched surroundings and the dry spiritual climate of the souls around her that were languishing without a Savior, but to thrive — to spiritually succeed in bringing each thirsty soul a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus. To store nourishing spiritual truth deep in the roots of her soul so that anytime there was a drought she might draw from the wellspring of what Christ had shown her through His Word and creation.
It was a good lesson. All because she had spotted a lily upon the sandy byway and captured it. Unintentionally, she had painted a picture of herself — a desert Lily who had discovered the secret to sustaining her faith in the North African desert.
True Inspiration
When was the last time you were inspired? Transported? Filled with a burst of creative energy that you could hardly contain yourself?
Maybe I’m the only one, but I would typically define inspiration as a Pinterest board or a home decorating book. A cookbook with beautiful photography. An aesthetic I admire. A social media account that has a way of pairing beauty with truth that makes me save the post for later … which I never usually revisit, truth be told.
Lilias Trotter was a Victorian missionary who lived an inspired life. She poured out creatively in more than 30 page-a-day journals and travel diaries and practically loved others in Jesus’ name. When God called her to Algiers, she ministered among the unreached in a treacherous climate for the rest of her life. For 40 faithful years, she was part pioneer, part poet as she established 11 mission outposts in the desert and founded a publishing arm of her ministry that encouraged fellow missionaries, in addition to producing resources in the native language to point the lost to Christ. Her life was mostly hidden — quietly lived in the dust of the desert where she wielded watercolors to capture profound spiritual truth. The hundreds of illustrations of life’s unfoldings were a natural outflow — a way to capture Christ’s life she saw all around her.
It is undeniable that Lilias had a way of seeing many beautiful things that others walked past without a second glance. So how did she cultivate her creativity? Was it her lack of technology — her naturally unplugged lifestyle — that made the difference? In part, I’m sure it helped create an atmosphere, but it ran deeper than that. Was it the privileges her upper-class upbringing afforded her? The foundational training in her younger years by renowned art critic John Ruskin taught her to mix color and capture light, but Lilias’s vision, again, was spiritually sharpened and attuned. So, what was the secret to her “inspired life”?
For starters, I think Lilias was operating under the true definition of inspiration. Inspiration is more than the content we consume. It is a force that compels us to create, do, or act. The word “inspire” actually means to fill someone with the confidence, desire, or motivation to take action or create. The word comes from the Latin which means to breathe into, carrying the beautiful metaphor of breathing life, creativity, or passion into another person.
Inspiration is two-fold and is comprised of being and doing. Another way of saying this is filling our mind and pouring out. For the believer, how we think and what we fill our mind’s eye with is crucial. There is a principle in Scripture that reminds us that our thoughts comprise our character and inform our actions: “As [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7).
However, filling ourselves with truth-based content or things that are good and lovely is only half of the process. In order to be inspired, we must be carried forth to action — compelled to do, not just be entertained for a moment. Under this definition, we can be inspired to put oils on a palette knife as well as be inspired to make disciples or transform our home to be a dwelling place of truth. The key is this: We must not stop short at the filling and never proceed to the pouring forth.
I can’t help but see the greater reality here … of a story that hearkens back to God and the Garden. You could say God was inspired to the point of creation. Out of who He was, He did something. He spoke the world into existence. He fashioned the animal kingdom and poured oceans by a word. To employ the Latin, He literally breathed into man, making him “a living soul” (Gen. 2:7 KJV).
For the believer, the secret of inspired living is surrender. To be filled to the point of action, we must have been breathed upon by Life Himself and no longer be living for ourselves, but for Him. This was Lilias’s launching pad to divine inspiration. Long before she ever stepped foot in North Africa, she had to choose whether she would make art or the Master Artist her main passion and pursuit. It was after this pivotal surrender to Christ that He used her life in beautiful ways and gave her even greater spiritual insight into the world around her.
If God is the Master Artist and we are His creative masterpiece, then we are called to reflect Him and must ask ourselves if we have been inspired to the point of creation. This doesn’t mean we will all be Monets or Rembrandts. Rather it means that whatever we put our hands to do is to reflect His glory, His Kingdom, and His nature.
Living with Heart and Soul
As I studied Lilias’s life earlier this year, I sought to coin a phrase for a way to remember her long after I had closed the biography. As I pondered her story, the phrase “the inspired life” came to rest as a legacy over her vibrant testimony.
But what does inspired living look like? And how can we, as those who love Jesus, draw from a wellspring of inspiration and apply it to the unique canvas of our own life? Quite simply, I think the best definition is found in Colossians 3:23. Let’s break down this verse a bit so we can embrace its full understanding:
And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men… Colossians 3:23
I love how when we open up a word to its original interpretation, it causes a cascade of heavenly meaning to shine upon our understanding. First, let’s take a closer look at the word “do.” It is also interpreted as do, make, bring forth, commit, perform. Do you see the scope of this word? It is not mindlessly checking off a to-do list — the synonyms here include bring forth (e.g., the wonder of childbirth), perform (e.g., think Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake), and create (e.g., as in da Vinci’s Mona Lisa). This word is closely associated with the word for “workmanship” in Ephesians 2:10 which talks about how we are God’s masterpiece — or poem. Think about how one composes a poem. Each word is carefully selected to convey the original intent of the author. Just as a poem is intentional, a masterpiece often refers to the author’s greatest work in his or her career. Do you realize that you are God’s masterpiece? Incomprehensibly, each of us is His greatest work.
Secondly, “heartily” translates literally as the breath of life. Do you hear the echo of Eden once again? This verse is saying that we are to put our heart and soul into the pursuits and callings and tasks — creative or otherwise — that lie before us. We are to breathe life into that which is in our hand to do and do it with all our might. (See Ecclesiastes 9:10a.) My friend, you were created to create — to make, produce, perform, and do through sharing Jesus, nurturing souls, nourishing bodies, creating an environment, and bringing beauty wherever you go!
Thirdly, notice the aim of hearty living. Lilias lived with heart and soul unto the Lord — whether she was mixing paint or purchasing produce at the open-air market it was all of Him, through Him, and to Him. (See Romans 11:36.) Likewise, the direction of our lives should be lived unto Him — for His joy, His notice, and His glory. Having this as our motivation safeguards us from the fear of man and people-pleasing and enables us to create a beautiful, intentional, truth-formed life to share with others.
Years ago, I happened upon an excellent encapsulation of hearty living in a stirring work of fiction about the underground church. One of the characters stated: “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare composed poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper, who did his job well.’”
Have we lived as Michelangelo painted? Let’s talk about what this looks like in our 9–5 desk job. Maybe it looks like bringing coffee and pastries on a Wednesday just because. What does this look like in our mothering? Maybe it looks like making blueberry pancakes in the shape of a smiley face just to bring delight to our three year old and to remind her that a joyful heart is good medicine! What does this look like in the traffic jam? Maybe it is the perspective shift that this extra time in the car is bonus time to pray for what we “haven’t had time for.” What does this look like in the face of the terminal diagnosis? It’s speaking aloud to our circumstances what Lilias penned over 100 years ago: “Take the very hardest thing in your life — the place of difficulty, outward or inward — and expect God to triumph gloriously in that very spot. Just there He can bring your soul into blossom.”
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Many years after capturing the desert lilies with her watercolors, Lilias was ready to go Home. Suddenly her eyes sparkled with that undeniable glint of seeing. A ministry worker gently asked her, “You are seeing beautiful things?” And in a restful and assured reply, Lilias said, “Yes, many, many beautiful things.” At that point, she entered God’s presence where she lives eternally with the Christ she saw only in part in creation, but now face to face. May we also live with eyes to see Him wherever we go.
What Fueled Lilias Trotter’s Inspiration
and what can fuel our own
If you’re feeling dusty and dry in the inspiration department, we’ve all been there — Lilias too! But the faithful cultivation of the following areas are sure to infuse you with true inspiration that will not only fill you with joy and purpose, but will flow out into the lives of those you encounter.
Devotional Life
Quite simply, Lilias put the highest priority on spending time completely alone with God, studying His Word with a heart open and receptive to His voice — an activity requiring utmost commitment from her, given the many demands on her time … Clearly, Lilias’s writing, which seemed to flow out of those quiet moments, was part of the process…
Miriam Huffman Rockness, Lilias’s biographer
Remember the aim of the inspired life? Unto Jesus. The best way to remind ourselves of this is to daily, intentionally, and relationally seek to know God and His Word. Do any areas of your walk with God need a refresh? As we fall more in love with Him, that relationship will color our world and give us eyes to see the needs of those around us.
Sharing Jesus
We ourselves are “saved to save” — we are made to give — to let everything go if only we may have more to give. The pebble takes in the rays of light that fall on it, but the diamond flashes them out again: every little facet is a means, not simply of drinking more in, but of giving more out. … We were created for more than our own spiritual development; reproduction, not mere development, is the goal of matured being — reproduction in the lives of others.
Lilias Trotter
Being an artist took third place in the life of Lilias Trotter. Jesus was first — that is undeniably clear — and sharing His Life with the Algerian people came second. Lilias’s own inspiration overflowed as she saw the people she lived among walk from darkness to light.
Have you ever experienced the unsurpassing joy that comes from seeing a soul journey from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of Light? We are commanded, not just encouraged, to share Jesus — in big ways and in small. Let’s take a first step by praying for the opportunities He has for us to share Him with others.
God’s Creation
Oh, the desert is lovely in its restfulness — the great brooding stillness over and through everything is so full of God. One does not wonder that He used to take His people out into the wilderness to teach them.
Lilias Trotter
Outside of knowing Jesus and making Him known, Lilias’s greatest and most constant source of inspiration was God’s creation. She had spiritual eyesight that clearly saw His invisible attributes that are abundantly evident in nature, and she captured that for her own growth and encouragement, and for ours too. With beautiful allegorical truth she wrote on the lesson of the buttercup, the lesson of the ripe peach, the lesson of the bee, and more. Many of these insights are captured in her books Parables of the Cross and Parables of the Christ Life.
My encouragement to you is simple. Get outside! Drink in the beauty of the Creator through enjoying His creation! Hike, paddleboard, ride a horse, or walk in a field of wildflowers. See His artistry in a single flake of falling snow. Drink in His goodness witnessed in the first flowers of spring. And watch your inspiration soar!
Spiritual Retreats
In the desert, far from the stench and squalor of the Algiers slums,
her soul was rested and revived…
Miriam Huffman Rockness
There is no describing the [missionary] meetings — we were just brought into God’s presence …
the keynote all through was Life — Christ our Life for Spirit and soul and body…
Lilias Trotter
Just as Jesus often departed to a solitary place to pray, so Lilias found delight in mounting a camel for a season of solitude. During these times she sought His face in a more concentrated way. A study of Lilias’s life also reveals that she found refreshment in coming away from the front lines of ministry to rally herself with likeminded believers at spiritual retreats that she both attended and hosted.
When was the last time you got away with the Lord? Be it for an hour, an afternoon, a weekend, or longer? How can you carve out intentional time to spend in His presence in a more concentrated way than you do on the day-in, day-out? If you’re looking for a Christ-centered retreat to ignite your spiritual fire, I can’t recommend an Ellerslie Discipleship Training* program enough!
This article was originally published in Issue 52.
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