Tied Feet

“We soon found that everything must go down before the claims of the children. Everything personal had, of course, gone down long ago, but now every missionary call had to be subordinated to these new demands.

“And yet, at the beginning, we were often tempted on this point. The new work seemed poorer than the old. The district where we had itinerated is twice as large as Wales and twice as populous, and farther afield opportunities had begun to open and, apart from the ordinary routine of mission work, calls had begun to come from many parts of the Madras Presidency and beyond. Could it be right to turn from so much that might be of profit (evangelistic tours, convention meetings for Christians and so on) and become just nursemaids? ‘Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God and went to God; He riseth from supper and laid aside His garments; and took a towel and girded Himself.’ He took a towel- the Lord of Glory did that. Is it the bondservant’s business to say which work is large and which is small, which unimportant and which worth doing? The question answered itself, and was not asked again. It was a foolish question, for the Master never wastes the servant’s time.

“Children tie the mother’s feet, the Tamils say, and Bishop Paget said, ‘With the venture of faith there is need of self-discipline and of effort.’ Babies are truly a venture of faith and, in India at least, they tie the mother’s feet. For there are no “Nannies” here, and we had seen enough of the difficulties of some missionaries, who had to use ayahs, to teach us that we could not be too careful of our children’s earliest years. So we let our feet be tied for love of Him whose feet were pierced.”1

My “feet have been tied” for almost six years now, and I would not trade these years for anything. It is God’s grace that has allowed me to see the beauty of having one’s feet tied. As with all of God’s ways, when we walk in them, we come to see Him more clearly. Oh how the world scorns His ways and tries to tell you that you are wasting your time or you are doing more than necessary. May we cling to His ways and resist the temptations of the world. As the Scripture says, “the world and all its desires are passing away, but the one who does the will of God abides forever.”




1 taken from Gold Cord, by Amy Carmichael