#162 Anecdotes (10oct07)

'The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved'
Jeremiah 8:20

As I ponder upon the condition of a friend, who is not responding to treatment for nose cancer, the thought that came to my mind was, if not the physical, what about the spiritual?

In the aftermath of the tsunami, many a good men will feel righteously aggrieved that innocent lives were lost. Does not God know how to differentiate between the deserving and the innocent?

While it is a fact(yet not many might take too kindly to), the reality is that we are imperfect and finite men, and who are we to argue with the Almighty and Sovereign God.

'I know that Thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from Thee Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that I understood not;.."
Job 42:2-3

Sadly, those who choose to question this reality either become disllusioned and turned away from a God that does not match their ideals or worse, they enter into the delusion that they should play 'God' themselves.

The ravages of World War 2 was a major percusor for 'good' men to come together to form the United Nations, where the greater good of the international community, will over-ride individual selfishness.
Reality is personal selfish interests seems to be the dominant underlying commonality amongst the member nations and what is right in our eyes, might not be right for others.

Of course, many have also come to believe in the questionable premise that any shortfalls in the material blessings of our lives are due to the fact that we have missed out hearing God correctly, and that we must continue to call on God for the manifold blessings that He has already bestowed upon us. (To get a sense of perspective, would you as a parent give everything to your child who bawls for it or would you more likely as a loving parent gives only what is good for him and withholds what is bad for him, even if he thinks otherwise?)

'And saith Jesus unto him Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve'
Matthew 4:9-10

Any misguided adherents of this all blessings message becomes unthinking foolish sheep, to be led to the abyss of disappointment and false hopes. For are you worshipping the god of the present sinful world, ie Satan (who did tempt Jesus with the treasures of this sinful world) or are we willing, in seeminlgy good or difficult times and situations, to trust and obey the very present Sovereign God, who has promised us salvation and eternal life in His kingdom. Are we willing to ask God what is His will, rather than what is our will? Are we willing to let Him and let go?

God wants our unblinking trust in Him and not in His blessings
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'Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?'
1 Corinthians 3:16

When our bodies are ravaged, be it by a major illness or some crippling accidents, we spent many moments trying to fix the temple, and totally forgot about the occupant, the Holy Spirit who resides in us who believed.
God has never left us and while death might take away our temporal shell, it is eternity that God is preparing us for and He has already provided the way. That is the blessing that is certain, as defined by God and not the blessings on earth, as defined by men.

The past few years have been a generally blessed one in terms of what holds the hearts for many of the world. Most of us on this list has been generally spared the wrath of nature or the ravages of diseases and our bread are more than buttered.

Compare this to the earlier years, where the economies of Asia were in the doldrums, SARS was not as benign as its other possible namesake, Special Administrative Region and on a personal level, friends were literally dropping dead like flies. But were those 'bad' and testing times best forgotten or were those times, when God was very real for many of us, but now clouded by the renewed love affair with the things of the world?

'And why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?'
Luke 6:46

Do ponder upon some of the anecdotal non-fiction( that prayerfully has remained vivid and factually correct in my mind despite the passing years) that the Lord has placed in my heart to revisit and share with all, over the next few weeks and let it be a reminder of how unfaithful we can be, but how God has always remained loving and faithful.

Lets learn to put our desires aside, and instead, be fully desirous of knowing and responding in trust, and obedience to the faithful and Sovereign God, our Abba Father.

'My hand also has laid the foundation of the earth and My right hand has stretched out the heavens, I called, they stood up together. Let all of you gather and hear, who among them has declared these things? The Lord has loved him….'
Isaiah 48:13-14

There was a period of time, that many of us truly gathered together, in greater numbers in the presence of God. There were also many of us who were very aware of our own fragilities and learned to rest our fears in God.
What experience or rather experiences brought about that period of uncluttered and committed time with God?

'And He said unto me "My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me'
2 Corinthians 12:9

I remember that it was a nice balmy Sunday evening and we were having dinner, when we received news that a friend who had been struggling with his inner fears of the ramifications of a nagging pain that has been plaguing him these past few months, confirmed that it was kidney cancer rather than something more benign that had struck him. Being willing Christians, but probably less in the know of the wonderful ways of God then, I remember gathering in the office on Monday, with two other dear friends, praying for this friend. Frantic we were, for we could not contact him as he was in the operating theatre on Monday morning, but pray we did and indeed God works in wonderful ways. The surgeon who operated on him, by the grace of God was a Christian and he prayed with my friend. It was important as this was a friend who has seen loved ones die at about his present age and like the lady in the newspaper who recently took out her womb, to try to break a family trend of deaths from ovarian cancer, the present fear was very real.
My friend survived that operation, and he shared that his fears was very real as there was a recent precedent. Another common friend never lived past Sunday. He died from a heart attack and this thought was what lingered in the mind of my friend as he dealt with the great unknown as he was wheeled into the operating room.

At this juncture, let me assure all that while I might be a decent story teller, but truly, I have no ability to read my friend's inner thoughts, but rather, these were snippets he shared with some of us, as we commiserate together on the few moments we shared with him. Still, in responding in faith, may the Lord shed new and more blessed light on this dated but not forgotten time for many of us and would be glad to hear on a personal basis, any new insights the Lord showed you during this meaningful time.

God has taught us that He works in wonderful ways, and being a man of even lesser faith then, I had sort of given up hope that my friend will truly let go and trust God. Having not seen him for some time after his operation(be it due to his reticence and less than readiness to trust in the Lord coupled with our lack of resolute faith), it was with some doubt, but thankfully the desire was still burning, that on a pleasant Friday afternoon, three of us believers trudged down to his house to visit him.

'I called upon the Lord in distress; the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place'
Psalm 118:5

How do you know that there is a God? One wonderful testimony of a very real God, is that He is reflected in our hearts and our lives. The serenity, the inner peace and joy that I came face to face with when I met my transformed friend, is something that remains etched in my memory. God is good and indeed, transformation and renewal comes from Him and no one else.
Saving the body is good, but salvation of our soul is paramount.

Blessed assurance God gives us, and indeed, a couple of minutes after we came into his house, in walk my friend's pastor who came specially to bless him with a time of Holy Communion with the Lord. The delight in my friend's thankfulness for God providing him with 3 believing friends(totally unplanned) to gather with him in this meaningful moment of truly remembering that Christ died for us, and eternal life is what we are given, is a joy to behold.

'Give Thanks' was the song we sang and indeed, as I looked back on that poignant yet blessed moment. It seemed like just yesterday, that in the midst of pain, God was there. My friend left us a few weeks after that wonderful time of worship and I truly believe that God has led Him across to a wonderful world that awaits all of us who believed and obeyed.

'O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good; because His mercy endureth for ever'
Psalm 118:1

God Blesses

Eng Hieang