A thought from Amy Carmichael

Invest in the Eternal

All that grieves is but for a moment. All that pleases is but for a moment. Only the Eternal is important.

A trial comes. It will pass. In a few days, or months, or years, we shall have forgotten it. The way we meet that trial—our inner attitude towards it—belongs to things that are Eternal.

All that we are, all that will ever be, in us and in others, in the entire universe, past—present—and future, is affected for all eternity by how we respond to temptations, or trials, or victories, or defeats.

The issues themselves are irrelevant.

The Eternal: how we respond in our inner hearts, those are the only things that matter. All else will pass and be forgotten and trivialized by time and space.

It does not seem so now. We feel, “If I could only have ____. If only this problem would go away. Then, ____.” Yet, we must be reminded of what we know. The pleasures pass. The trials, though they seem long and difficult, are a vapor.

If we could have what we desire, or shed what we disdain, we would, with that attitude, only suffer dreadful loss in the Eternal realm. The scriptures say, “He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.”

Let us look to Jesus and trust HIM, and invest in the Eternal, not that which only passes away.

-Amy Carmichael