A believer who knew the meaning of suffering was Amy Carmichael. She was born in Ireland in 1867 and went to India as a missionary in 1895. For much of her life she suffered from the painful disease of neuralgia, yet she lived in India without ever returning to her native land until her death in 1951. In addition to spreading the gospel from village to village in southern India, Amy Carmichael is known for her work in rescuing girls and young women from sex slavery in the Hindu temples.
Amy Carmichael wrote many inspiring poems. In one of them she expressed her understanding of suffering as an unavoidable part of following the Lord Jesus. Here it is:
Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land;
I hear them hail thy bright, ascendant star.
Hast thou no scar?Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers; spent,
Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening beasts that compassed Me, I swooned.
Hast thou no wound?No wound? No scar?
Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,
And pierced are the feet that follow Me.
But thine are whole; can he have followed far
Who has no wound nor scar?1
1 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone,