Pictures of the True

From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see His invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God. Rom. 1:20

One of my heroines is an Irish missionary to India named Amy Carmichael. Born in 1867, the eldest of seven children, she was commissioned by the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society in 1895 to go to Dohnavur, India, where she served fifty-six years in selflessness and total commitment to the Lord.

A major part of her work there was devoted to rescuing children who had been dedicated by their families to be temple prostitutes. In 1931, she suffered a tragic accident and from then until her death in 1951, she was mostly confined to her bed. Though often in severe pain during those 20 years, she directed the work of the orphanage she founded from her room as well as wrote 35 books and many letters.

In many of her books, she used the phrase “pictures of the true” to describe things she would see from her bedroom window that gave her a glimpse into the unseen spiritual world or a greater understanding of God. Whether it was a spider spinning its web, a caterpillar crawling along a branch, leaves falling from a tree or the sun rising on a new day, Amy looked for God in what she saw, and He gave her incredible insights, teaching her valuable lessons she was able to pass along to others.

The synthetic world we now live in, so different from hers, is cluttered with man-made devices and pollution of every kind, including multiple information highways, communication devices and entertainment options. It devours our time and clogs our minds and thoughts with way too many worthless bits of trivia and fantasy and not as many useful thoughts. So it’s often hard to dig our way out and really see the “pictures of the true” which God has placed all around us.

That’s why so many people find it easier to sense God’s presence when they’re perched high on a mountaintop, sitting by a pristine stream, walking through a field of wildflowers, gazing at the innumerable stars in the night sky or watching and listening to the roar of the ocean’s waves as they roll in and wash out time and time again without missing a beat. In these and similar locations, we can lose ourselves in God’s creative genius, the beauty, the power, the rhythm, the constancy, the majesty, the vastness, the glory, the timelessness, the sense of something greater and Someone greater than just what we see. We can see beyond what’s there in the natural to what’s spiritual and calling us into relationship.

Looking for those “pictures of the true” is an excellent habit to develop any time. But it’s especially helpful when you find yourself battling cancer or caring for someone who is. This kind of thinking is life giving and life feeding. It helps you remember that God is greater than the pain, the unknown, the fear, the discomfort, the loss you may be experiencing. It helps you remember that He isn’t far removed from you but is actually at work in your world and present in your situation. It helps you gain an eternal perspective (which produces hope) and enables you to recognize the temporary nature of the circumstances you’re currently in (which produces endurance). It sheds light on life in ways that will enable you to fight well, fight with perseverance and fight with joy. It gives you a spiritual inheritance you can benefit from while you’re still alive and on earth and one which you can share with others to bless and strengthen them as well.

Look around you. Ask God’s Holy Spirit to open your eyes, ears and heart to what He’d like to show you, teach you, bless you with while you sweep, wash dishes, wait for the mailman, watch the children, change a dressing or undergo treatment. Pictures of the true abound if you really see when you look, listen when you hear and think with awareness as you live out each moment of every day. The Bible tells us we live, move and have our being in Him (Acts 17:28). There’s no better teacher to reveal to you what’s real, meaningful and useful for life behind the natural world we live in. Pictures of the true will strengthen your spirit, flood you with hope and give you the spiritual food your mind, body and spirit need to live fully and live well.

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