Lord do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them just as Elijah did ?'
Luke 9:54
In my youth, most of us were brought up on a diet of Western super-heroes, the likes of Superman, Fantastic Four, Wonderwoman, Birdman and their oriental cousin, Ultraman
.
The closest visual experience for most of us of God's awesome powers were in the cinematic version of the Ten Commandments.
Charlton Heston was pretty impressive as Moses, though he pales in comparison to his Darwinian cousins in the Planet of the Apes.
'But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found of them..'
2 Chronicles 15:3-4
Like most, my first inkling of God was in my moments of depression and repression, when man-initiated solutions were incomprehensible and fallible.
God then, for me was probably the option of last resort.
'.....it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power; help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude, O Lord, .....'
2 Chronicles 14:11
In that fleeting moment of letting God take centre stage in our lives, dawn breaks on what had seemed like a perpetual oppressive darkness in our lives. We cheer with some trepidation, not sure if the winds of good fortune were but a mere breeze. As things truly improved, we feel this great gush of emotional exhilaration welling in our souls, giving an intense but brief thanks to God and life then carries on, plugging ourselves back to the dictates of the material world.
'.......if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?'
John 11:40
By God's grace, 4 years back, He lifted the blindness in my heart, and took me out of this 'start and stop' relationship that I had with Him.
With my blinkers removed, I could now 'see' Him clearly.
Question is, am I willing to keep my eyes on Him and follow Him always, especially in our times of trouble, when our very faith gets challenged??
'Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not......But......To do Your will, O God'
Hebrews 10:5-7
Many a detractor vehemently claim that they will believe in the Almighty God, when they see Him or witness a miracle performed in their full view.
The Israelites witnessed many miracles culminating in walking through Red Sea, and never encapsulated by the walls of water. Yet, not long after that, when the thankfulness dissipates, they start to look to things of the world, and chose to replace the Awesome God with a golden bull.
What about us today?? Do take a step backwards and reflect upon your lives. Things might be tough now, but were there many things still to be thankful for, in the past and even now??
'....For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them'
Luke 9:55
Last Tues night for me was one of those rare days when the mind and the body seems to go out of whacked.
The bones were aching, the body was a mite cold, and the soul was all ready to purge out whatever contents that rested in my body systems.
God heals, and He will, but not by our will, but in His will and time.
Learning to submit to God in prayers, in His Word and in praise, is something that is not instinctive in us, for the self normally takes precedence.
Yet, it is the only right thing to do, even in seemingly dire circumstances.
In my fairly disorientated state, the Word of God truly was a breath of life and these are a couple of verses I read that fretful Tues night
'Thus saith the Lord, in an acceptable time have I heard thee......'
Isaiah 49:8
'And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ'
2 Thessalonians 3:5
'For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards Him..'
2 Chronicles 16:9
As one ponders upon those times of trials that one goes through, where God seems pretty oblivious to our pleadings, is our 'hotline' to the Lord in less than perfect order, why doesn't our abracadabra work??
'why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?'
Mark 4:40
God is always here with us. It just that our hearts are often not with Him.
God will give us time to learn to be still, to learn to make right what is wrong in our hearts. As we learn to look to Him, the source of all glory and perfections, as our self-will are re-aligned to His will, He answers our prayers.
'For whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved'
Romans 10:13
Our fruitless meanderings, our wonderings and wanderings, our so called 'sufferings' often are painful but necessary to help remove the worldly barnacles encrusted upon our hearts.
'How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed?'
Romans 10:14
As we learn to be patient, to learn to look only to God, as our soul gets refined and our character gets transformed, the light of God will shine on us and His grace will fall upon us too.
So that, we can say that God does answer when we asked, for we have learned to ask in His will.
'.....whatever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it to you'
John 15:16
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
a little epilogue
- turned out that I was suffering from a dose of food poisoning. The tummy is still a little queasy but the body constitution is strong enough(without any medication) to allow me to be used by God to minister to a very dear friend yesterday. Truly, the spiritual attack is inevitable when the devil knows that he is losing the battle for another's soul.
- yet why does God allow my weak stomach, when knowing full well the important date ahead. Should not He made me fighting fit.
The night of suffering that I went through tues nite, when one was in a semi-comatose state, when it seems that the soul was being pulled apart, and many spirits were warring in my shell.
Through it all, in willing myself to spend time with God, in letting Him shine on the unseen dark patches of my life, He has made me right.
To be able to make supplications to our Lord, to be able to ask in His will, we must ourselves be made right.
I was being detoxed!!
- today, the detoxed continued. Had a very challenging morning. Literally beaten up in 5 consecutive rows of trouble.
Yet, the 6th phone call was a blessing and a reassurance.
'Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say?'
Father save me from this hour; but for this cause came I unto this hour.
Father, glorify thy name'
John 12:27
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