'My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials…..'
James 1:2-4
Once in a blue moon, we humans desire to embark on one of those great personal mini epics of tedious and monotonous labour. My wife has just laid on the dining table, literally tonnes of albums of the children taken over the past 12-14 years, to do a consolidation into a more manageable form. It is not on the same scale as Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Great Wall, which was meant to keep out the barbarian hordes from the northern border, but one is always surprised by the hordes of stuff that can cumulate over the years.. As I flipped through the piles of photos of yonder years, when the children were younger, and the wife was more vociferous in snapping away for dear life, happy moments of her dearest brood, truly how time flies.
'My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you because the Lord discipline those He love and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son.'
Hebrews 12:5-6
There is this photograph of my boy in his brand new school uniform, with name tag to boot, on his first day in primary school. The photo was takened with yours truly; ie father and son, with the main door of my previous abode forming the backdrop.. Both of us were quite cheerful, and making the picture perfect was a handmade poster(a welcome poster that my kids made to welcome us back from one of those post honeymoon sojourns) stuck on that same door with the words, "welcome home mummy and daddy."
Notice that the words "mummy came before daddy" but that is another story about true power and ultimate authority.
'It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God'
Hebrews 10:31
After the cheery start, the first 2 weeks was a little more traumatic, but thanks to some firm expression of authority from the principal, a dear brother in Christ, my boy soon settled in well, and no longer pines for his afternoon nap and security blanket(like Linus in Peanuts). That was almost 6 years back.
As I literally put words into paper(or rather bytes) this morning, I was reminded of the reason for my being a wee bit too early today, being the one to turn on the lights in the office, an occurrence rarer than a blue moon. My boy, like most aspiring teenagers, was in the midst of preparation for his graduating exams from primary school. So, despite this being a school vacation, he had to be in school early this morning for furthur rigorous educational enlightenment, such is the demands of our pedagogic world today.
God provides, we response.
'For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.
But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation…..'
Hebrews 10:26
It is the Lord our God who blessed my wife and myself with two wonderful children(but then, to most of us, our children are always the most wonderful).
As a father, I like to believe that I have provided amply for their material and emotional needs, though on the latter, the mothers tend to do a better job, not just because they have more time, but rather, they have greater patience and endurance. We men tend to be more frail when it comes to tending to the brood.
But God made us the titular and more importantly, the spiritual head of our household.
Have we been good stewards of the blessings He has placed in our lives??
'Lord, thou have established peace for us, all that we have accomplished You have done for us….'
Isaiah 26:12
As I reflect on how the Lord has brought me out of the darkness these past few years, how on hindsight, the years of seemingly meandering off focus away from Him, were still used wonderfully by Him, to prepare me for the day He lifted the veil in my hearts, to be made ready to go out to the world, yet not live as the world, to give me a contrite yet thankful heart for His love and grace.
'But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him'
Hebrews 11:6
As human fathers, all of us(save for the rare anomalies), even for all our imperfections, do desire the best for our children, and we want them to trust in us and to abide by our guidance.
Robert Young in the old but popular American sitcom "Father Knows Best" brought to the silver screen, a crystallization of the hopes and despairs of 1950s suburban Americana, when the family unit was still normal, and 'partners' refer to a professional arrangement eg legal or accounting rather than an emotional relationship.
'Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby…'
Hebrews 12:11
Two colours that my children in their toddler years love to loathe was the gender colors of blue and pink. A blue cane for the boy, and a pink cane for the girl.
In some parts of the developed world, parents do run the risk of being send to the lock-up for inflicting 'inhumane' hurt on the pure brats. Most of us would probably have spent some parts of our younger days, scrambling to avoid the swift attribution of the feather duster that our mums wield with great dexterity. It was no doubt painful, when our mums surprised us with their agility in matching our pace and guile but on hindsight, it was love being exercised and no doubt, many of us did gain from the pain.
'…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us..'
Hebrews 12:1
"6 of the best" was term often used in one of my favorite strips in the long running British published weekly comic "Beano."
In the "Bash Street School Kids' a popular strip in the comic, the school kids run riot regularly, but in a non nasty manner, without the venom and spite of today's modern games, and the scrawny teacher dutifully conduct his regular disciplinary exercise in futility by giving the kids 6 best strokes of the cane.
In the reality of our world, all of us would have gone through various trials and tribulations. Most would agree that we often come out of it a better person, with a fortified character that places us in a much better stead to handle the challenges of life. For deprivation makes one a better person and a little whack here or there does ensure a more upright life.
As a fearful man of God, I strive to seek Him every moment of my life and to please Him always. Yet, I am very cognizant of my own imperfections and preponderance to fall into sin. What some would term "walking into the chasm" with our eyes wide open.
Are we so culpable and gullible that we do what we should not do, and do not do what we should do?
The human mind is self-deceiving and the devil is an angel but from from angelic.
'…as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul'
1 Peter 2:11
God allows little raps on our knuckles to help us stay focussed, and while God does not tempt us, just as He cannot be tempted, He does allow us to see the follies of our ways, by letting us live out the inevitable consequences of our sins, for God gives us all a free will. We must want to exercise that free will He gave us correctly and the only right way is to
'Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith……'
Hebrews 12:2
As I closed this segment of the journey, I just received news of the demise of a relative. Her journey has ended a little prematurely in our finite world. But where yonder would she be?
God's hand is there for all who care to grasp upon. Do we need more strokes of the rotan(or cane) to bring us back on course?
Indeed truly,
'My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials…..'
James 1:2-4
I am, like many of you, thankful for the discipline of our parents. I am eternally grateful to the Lord our God, for the many raps on my knuckles, for without His loving correction, I will have long faltered and lost my way, in the darkness of this sinful world.
'O Lord, correct me, Lord, but only with justice - not in Your anger, lest Thou bring me to nothing..'
Jeremiah 10:24
There are only two definites(excluding greed and fear) of life; our coming into this world as a newborn, and the day of our departure. As I celebrate the first today, I am truly thankful my life will not end with the latter, for all who believed and followed will be with Him in blissful eternity, for death has lost its grip on us.
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
'…and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come'
Isaiah 57:1
'…that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light'
1 Peter 2:9
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