Gaining Heavenly Determination to Accomplish God’s Purposes
By Leslie Ludy
As I have studied Amy Carmichael’s astounding rescue work, marked by such a dauntless commitment to seek and save the lost, I am continually reminded of the night when God seemed to pose the question, “What if that were Hudson?” Eric and I both knew that we would stop at nothing to rescue our little boy, even if it meant selling every possession and risking our very lives to reach him if he was in danger. But the determination to rescue our own son, though important and right, is only a human-level love.
Relentless love, heavenly love — the kind that Amy Carmichael showed toward the children she rescued — goes deeper and farther than human love. It means seeing others as God sees them; as precious lives worth saving and sacrificing for, even if nobody else in the world deems them valuable. It means tapping into God’s heart that says “That’s My Hudson” to every vulnerable child or lost soul around the world. It means removing the safety cones from around our lives and making ourselves available to become Christ’s hands and feet to a world in need, even though it may cost us dearly. Is it worth it? We only need to be reminded of what Christ did for us to be sure about the answer to that question. (See Philippians 2:7.)
It’s easy to look at a life like Amy Carmichael’s and assume that she was a “special Christian” — one of the rare few who had the capacity to love and sacrifice for others in an astounding and powerful way. But Scripture is clear that there are no “special Christians” — only faithful Christians.
To be counted among God’s faithful Christians we do not need to do something notable or epic. We simply need to “be obedient to the heavenly vision and work with a pure intention to the glory of God” as she described it.*
My life does not often feel as exciting or important as the one Amy lived. But, as we are reminded all throughout Scripture — obedience is what matters.
We live in a world where self-absorption and self-protection is considered healthy and normal, and we are pushed toward a self-focused lifestyle at every turn. Yet we follow a Savior who walked a different path — a path of self-denial and self-sacrifice. And He asks us to follow in His steps.
“For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.“ 1 Peter 2:21
The enemy wants us to believe that saying yes to this calling will lead only to suffering and misery. But walking in the footsteps of our Savior, though difficult, leads to the greatest fulfillment we could ever find. If you are hesitant to believe this fact, just study the lives of men and women throughout Scripture and in history who gave everything for the One who gave everything for them. You will find that their stories are not marked by regret and woe, but by triumph and joy — even in the face of suffering or death.
I would like to share two principles that can help us cultivate God’s relentless, heavenly love in our daily lives and rise above mere human compassion. These are not complicated action steps, but they do require the enabling grace of God. I encourage you to take these principles before Him and ask Him to equip you to do what you could never do in your own capacity. That is a request that He is always ready and waiting to answer.
1. Be available to share His burdens
Throughout Scripture, we see specific people for whom God’s heart is especially burdened, including:
- The persecuted church
- The fatherless and widows
- The impoverished
- Prisoners and slaves
- The sick and the elderly
- Refugees and foreigners
- The unborn
- The unsaved
These are the ones He has called us to reach with His love, hope, and light. But to be successful in this commission, it is vital that we learn to share His burdens instead of relying on our own human compassion.
When Eric and I first began to feel the call of God to reach the “Hudsons” of the world, the idea was daunting. We didn’t know where to begin. As a first step, we began to explore Christian orphan advocacy resources, asking God to show us how to share His burden for the vulnerable children of the world. It didn’t seem like a very significant step to take. But as we started to see beyond the statistics and grasp God’s heart of love toward each and every individual child, we were moved toward adoption. Over the next few years our family expanded as we said yes to sharing His burden for vulnerable children — first a baby girl from Korea, next a little boy from the U.S., and then two toddlers from Haiti.
Our adoptions have not been easy, and there were times in the process of each one when we were tempted to give up and walk away. But God infused us with His relentless love to pursue these children, even when it was excruciatingly difficult. Sharing His burdens — rather than asking Him to share ours — made all the difference.
God might not call you to adopt. There are countless ways He may lead you to demonstrate His relentless love to this lost and dying world. It doesn’t always mean traveling to the other side of the world — sometimes the needs He has called us to meet are right inside our own homes, or right outside our front doors.
It begins with a simple willingness to share His burdens and an unconditional availability to Him. If you surrender your body, your life, your time, and your resources to His purposes, you can be sure that He will open your eyes to the ways in which He desires you to become His hands and feet, and the special burdens He desires you to share.
Becoming a catalyst for Christ’s relentless love most often means a difficult journey. So it is important to remember that God’s burdens are far too heavy for us to carry on our own. That is what Amy Carmichael discovered when she was so heavily weighed down by the plight of the child trafficking victims in India — she knew it must be His burden to carry, not hers. His yoke is easy and His burden is light — when we rely on His strength and not our own. (See Matthew 11:30.)
2. Become relentless, by His Grace
During Jesus’ earthly ministry, there was a paralyzed man who had remarkable friends. They wanted to him to be healed, and they knew that the only hope was to get him to Jesus. But there were significant obstacles in their way. In fact, reaching Jesus seemed truly impossible despite their best efforts. Mark 2:2–4 explains their dilemma:
And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer space, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. And some people came, bringing to Him a man who was paralyzed, carried by four men … they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd…
At that point, most people would have given up, reasoning that they had done the best that they could to show love to their friend. But this man’s friends were different. They were relentless in getting him to Jesus. They were so compelled to see their friend touched by the Savior that they did whatever it took. They somehow figured out a way to carry the paralyzed man to the roof of the house (which could not have been an easy feat) took apart the roof tiles, and lowered their friend on his mat right in front of where Jesus stood. And when Jesus saw their faith, He healed him. (Read the rest of the account in Mark 2:5–7.)
When Hudson Taylor felt God’s burden for the countless, unreached souls in China, all odds were stacked against him in responding. From contracting a deadly plague just as he was preparing to leave for China, to nearly being shipwrecked on his first voyage there, to encountering a hostile, hardened, and dangerous land when he finally arrived — Hudson had every reason to give up. But he became relentless in reaching China with the Gospel. And because of His determined faith, hundreds of thousands were saved.
When William Booth awakened to the needs of the impoverished people of East London in the late 1800s, it seemed impossible to help them. He did not have the support of a wealthy church, and most respectable Christians in that time did not share his desire to work among the poor and destitute. The residents of East London were often extremely hostile toward him. When he held open-air evangelistic meetings, he would stumble home night after night haggard with fatigue. Sometimes, his clothes were torn and bloody, with bandages around his head where he’d been struck with a stone. But William became relentless in reaching this unreachable crowd. And because of his determined faith, countless thousands were radically transformed.
When two elderly women, Peggy and Christine Smith, felt God’s burden to see revival come to their spiritually dead community in Scotland in the mid 1900s, they didn’t just pray casually and then give up when nothing happened. They became relentless in praying for revival. They prayed importunately and continually, often through the night despite their elderly age and poor health. They recruited every local Christian they could find to cry out to God day after day, week after week. And because of their determined faith, revival came in a powerful, historic way.
We have already seen Amy Carmichael’s relentless determination to rescue children from a horrible fate in India. And there are thousands more stories throughout history that showcase the same pattern — some of which we may never know this side of Heaven.
It is this kind of relentless love that you and I are called to live out today: a faith that does not turn back or waver or quit when things become difficult, and a love that stops at nothing to accomplish God’s purposes.
Paul told the church at Corinth:
“And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls…“ 2 Corinthians 12:15a
When our heart can sincerely echo these words, our life will showcase the relentless love of Heaven, no matter how big or small our unique calling or task.
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Whatever burdens you have been called to share today, whatever role He has assigned you, remember that His grace is sufficient to equip you for the task, even when it seems impossible. Christ’s relentless love can triumph through us when we are willing and available to receive it.
Amy Carmichael said it well,
It is great to be faced with the impossible, for nothing is impossible if one is meant to do it. Wisdom will be given, and strength. When the Lord leads, He always strengthens.
This article was originally published in Issue 46.
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