#182 Lonely Planet (21st apr 08)

They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me…………….'
Lamentations 1:21

'And He said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest'
Exodus 33:14

In my secular past, my rare concerted attempts to seek God was only in my times of trouble, when I did vaguely recall the promise of His love and grace as shared by those troublesome evangelists as well as my recollection of verses that I might have read along the way. I have had also experienced brief moments of peace even in those fewer moments of going to the presence of God, but like most, either my troubles did not last too long for me to want to linger on in the presence of God or that my needs for resolution the way I wanted were not met. It was time to move on to the offerings and delights of the world.

'And he said unto Him, If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.'
Exodus 33:15

God told Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. To bring them out of the discomfort zone into the promise land. To break free from the bondages that the Egyptians had imposed upon them. But Moses dithered, for it was a great and thankless task. He wanted to be sure that God will really go with him. God honoured His promise and like they say, the rest is history.

If ye were of the world, the world would love His own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.'
John 15:19

Being a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ does not mean that we are immune to the challenges of the imperfect world we live in. In fact, there can be trying times when we feel that the ground was about to swallow us up and that we will soon be history if we do not react the way the world expects us to.
I was reminded by a recent experience that my son had, of how difficult it was and still is for many to truly be different from the ways of the world, to live a life that honours God by our selflessness, our love and kindness, and even the way we use our tongue for goodness. It is even more difficult for a child, who is still 'learning the ropes' of the world, for them to be told to live life different from their peers, who are brought up on today's diet of unhealthy competitiveness, self before others, obsessions and shifting values. At the young teenage level, the standard lingua franca is not only gibberish, as in internet and all the high fangled tech-speak, but also peppered with colorful expletives that no longer resides in the closet of the uncouthed. To be different would mean that you will need to be bold and certain of your faith, to be able to live a life on the fringe of the increasingly deviant mainstream and possibly be ostracised for seemingly being too "prudish."

''And He said, thou canst not see My face: for there shall no man see Me, and live'
Exodus 33:20

How can we cling on to our faith, when the source of all our comfort and grace seems to be no where in sight? Or is God truly out of sight for Him to be out of our mind?

'And I will take away Mine hand, and thou shalt see My back parts: but My face shall not be seen'
Exodus 33:21-23

The Bible talks about how man uses part of a tree that he had just chopped down to make a fire to roast his food. The balance of the tree he carves into an idol and bows down to it as his god.
Illogical as it may seem, many of us Chinese do indulge in ancestor worship and it might be gratifying to know that I am more powerful dead than alive, should my children ever subscribe to this practice.
And secularism is not much different except that it worships the living. Namely one's self esteem, needs and finite understanding.

The ways of God are sometimes beyond our ability to fathom. He lets us understand what He wants us to understand, but God expects us to remain faithful to Him always, just as He is the unchanging and faithful God, who fulfills His promise to all.
Moses did see God, but only His back for none can see God and live. Like Moses, God do allow us to see glimpses of His presence, suffice to reassure us of His very real relationship with Him and yet not too much that we lose the need to live each day knowing His grace is suffice for the day.

'Be ye mindful always of His covenant………Saying, Unto thee will I give the land …….. When ye were but few, even a few, and strangers in it. And when they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people. He suffered no man to do them wrong…..'
1 Chronicles 16:15-21

Dependency upon God is key to our relationship with Him. Anything other than that would mean that our imperfect understanding will take over and the seeds of disobedience would spring forth from the wellsprings of pride and self-sufficiency

'Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends'
Mark 12:28-34

Life never seems lonely when one has many pursuits, the means to pursue what appeals to us and the friends to share it with. But when the lights dim, when one is no longer of ability be it financial or health wise or when 'lady luck'(or more like the devil removing the illusory cloak of delusions) desert us, how many friends would truly be by one's bedside or when one falls by the wayside?

'Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit………'
John 15:16

A true follower of our Lord Jesus Christ will never leave the people that God places in their lives alone. Being with that person need not be a physical presence. It could be in prayers, in kind or even through others.
And a faithful follower of our Lord Jesus Christ will never experience on a permanent basis that vacumn in their lives, for the Spirit of God is with them. God has and will always be in their hearts. Any perceived tinge of loneliness is more the result of a doubtful mind and our imperfections.

'…Thou art not far from the kingdom of God…'
Mark 12:34

'He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living…..'
Mark 12:27

'No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit'
1 John 4:12-13

God Blesses

Eng Hieang