The colour of your eyes.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to bePsalm 139:13,16
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you, not to harm you; plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come pray to me, and I will listen to you.” Jeremiah 29:11,12
As a compulsive and addicted reader it is to be expected that some of my reading matter will not be retained in as magical a way as others. Conversely, sometimes a subject will so grab my attention that it cannot be ignored. Such a one recently made an impact like a searchlight on a dark place.
Often the dark places in our lives are caused by disappointments, and in the case of Christians it can be because of the consternation of having the Lord say ”No” to an earnest prayer request. Such was the case with Amy Carmichael, a much loved missionary to India. She is also known for the stirring poems and books she wrote.
I was blessed in reading an excerpt about her in a recent Baptists Today (SA) magazine, which brought out magnificently the concept of God being in full control at all times and in every situation, working all things for good in the lives of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
Amy was born, one of seven children in her large Irish family, with brown eyes. Now this dismayed her terribly as everyone else in the family had blue eyes. This was news to me as I had only seen black and white photographs of her, or the sepia prints of her day, and even if I had known, it would not have meant very much. But to this young girl it was a matter for urgent and persistent prayer. She was 8 years old when she first gave her life to the Lord, and with childish faith and expectation earnestly entreated the Lord to give her blue eyes like the rest of her family. As she grew she no doubt learnt to accept that this was a miracle she was to be denied, and when she answered the call to ministry in India, in spite of less than robust health, she embraced the customs of her adopted country, fitting in well with her brown eyes. As the years passed she became much treasured and respected by the people she so devotedly served and we can imagine the alarm that was experienced in the mission compound when India rebelled against British rule in the late 1800’s and riots broke out in the streets of India. Thousands of British subjects were evacuated and as the rioters moved closer to the area where Amy lived, the people became more concerned for her safety, deciding that they would make her look even more like an Indian. Coffee was rubbed into her skin, her long dark hair was plaited in a braid down her back. Dressed in her customary Indian clothes it was hoped that she would not be recognised as being European.
The day came when an angry mob arrived, and the Christians were lined up against the walls. “Kill the foreigners! Kill the English!” was the frenzied cry, but no foreigners could be seen. The leader then remembered his instructions, having been told that the foreigners could have been disguised. His cry rang out, “Look into their eyes! Kill the ones with blue eyes! The hated ones all have blue eyes.”
And Amy realised the awesome truth of her uniqueness before God! At last she knew why God had said “No” to her desperate pleas for blue eyes!