Yet Listen Now,
Oh, listen with the wondering olive trees,
And the white moon that looked between the leaves,
And gentle earth that shuddered as she felt
Great drops of blood. All torturing questions cease
In him who girds his soul to listen there.
There, only there, can we take heart to hope
For all lost lambs---aye, even for ravening wolves.
Oh, there are things done in the world today
Would root up faith, but for Gethsemane.
For Calvary interprets human life:
No path of pain but there we meet our Lord;
And all the strain, the terror and the strife,
Die down like waves before His peaceful word.
And nowhere but beside the awful Cross,
And where the olives grow along the hill,
Can we accept the unexplained, the loss,
The Crushing agony, and hold us still.
And nowhere is that clearer vision given
Which pierces a bewildering providence,
And opens windows upon highest heaven,
But where we see Suffering Omnnipotence.
Amy Carmichael's words are brilliant. There is not a reason in the world that a Christian should continue in faithfulness and pursue fulness of Joy in God except that Christ has, on the Cross, shown us that all our wisdom and attempts to understand are worth nothing compared to the excellencies of His wisdom. We can hope, love and enjoy because of God's Glorious work through Christ!
