#97 Lost cause (30july 06)

There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents'
Luke 15:10

As I looked out of my windows at the office this morning at 8.30am, I realized how blessed I have been these past few days.
The clouds have opened up again with heavy showers to sate our long arid land, and it is comforting to know that my kids and wife are all safely ensconced either in school or at home, and not be caught in the storm.

As for myself, the perfect hands of the Lord in sheltering me from the storms have never been more real these past few days.

On Sat, we were privileged to do a prayer walk round the grounds of my son's new school in perfect weather, especially for me who had to be in the more formal but heat stifling attire for another appointment right after that. If there was any warmth felt, it was the warmth of God's love and grace in providing an amazing new physical ground for the boys.

On Sunday, my church's 2nd Family worship was truly a blessed one. A time for families to truly come together in God's presence. God blessed us with His presence and His grace.
The skys again decided to open up with great fanfare. I like to think, Heaven's joyous cheer to families uniting in praising God. Yet, again, the weather held till most families were safely home.
Being part of the organizers, my dallying ensured that I caught the perfect storm, yet, was blessed with the arrival of a taxi right at the moment I stepped out of the building. I was privileged to give a lift to a father(one of the few stragglers left behind), who attended the service, across the road to get his car to pick up his rain-stranded family, for without the cab, both of us will be very drenched.

And today, as I penned this weather lore, how blessed I am that because of my session early in the morning with the young believers of my son's school, I can be in the office early, to enjoy the view of the lovely showers of Heavens, without being subjected to its cleansing or drenching.

General Custer, when he took a brave last stand against the numerically overwhelming Red Indians in then still wild America, knew that it was a courageous but lost cause.
The British calvary, when they bravely rode their horses towards the machine-gunned entrenched Boers forces in the wars in South Africa, were riding to a doomed but courageous lost cause.

I met a mother recently. She was suffering from a kidney ailment and had to be on dialysis for 8 hours daily. At about the same time of the onset of her illness, she suffered a double whammy.Her beloved daughter, was involved in a road accident and is now in coma. Yet, this dear lady remained faithful in seeking God and doing His will.

Just on Sat, we were blessed to hear the very powerful testimony of a father and son. The young and sprightly boy was diagnosed with leukaemia, and it was a timely reminder of the brevity and unpredictability of mortal life, yet how with God, there is never a lost cause, but a lost soul.
We must never lose sight of God, we must never lose sight of the need to pray for others. For God provides.

One major concern for most wealthy people is the inability to break the 3 generational cycle of wealth creation, wealth maintenance and wealth destruction.
For 1st generation Christians like myself, in the darkness of our godless lives, we were blessed to see the light of God's love and His many blessings(not just material but in many aspects) in our lives.
The struggle for us is how do we translate that living knowlege and love for God into the same desire for our God in our very blessed children, the 2nd generation of believers.
In our fervency, are we on the right course or are we doing more damage, in our heartfelt desire to ensure that our children need not have to go through the same struggles of wrestling with God in the darkness, before they see the light. We might have, by the weakness of our human understanding, shone the beam of our glaring desires that it could truly turn them off from wanting to know God.

What about the many people of the world that God places in our paths. Are we losing the battle to make them see the light of God's love and grace??
Will Hell be the the choicest piece of real estate for most, for the burning lustful desires of the heart will truly find its soulmate in the devil's destiny of eternal damnation.

Just as man is consistently inconsistent. Just as man is self deceitful much as they think otherwise.
Thankfully, God is the same God. His grace and love is new every morning and His grace is sufficient for the day.

All of us who have been blessed to know God, will know that there is never a lost cause in God's kingdom. If a soul is lost, it is because he or she never heard about the good news of the gospel or that even with that knowledge, he or she chose to be lost. If we ourselves feel lost or discouraged in our efforts to lead a soul to God, it is because we are very likely on the wrong course, one based on our understanding rather than on God's leading. We can only look to God, respond as He leads. It is not for us to set the timing nor the form.

My parents found God at the sunset years of their lives. In the past, they had never looked like lost causes to me, simply, because I had never even considered their salvation, for I was too busy with the world. God is good. My sister was and is faithful. My parents got to know God and followed Jesus Christ because my sister never lost faith.
I am now privileged to enjoy the fruits of her faithfulness, for my parents are still with me, for me to speak the same Godspeak and busks in the sunshine of God's love and grace, when I myself finally became a saved cause.

God Blesses and indeed, you might notice that there is only one verse i shared today(Luke 15:10). For as I did my quiet time this morning, this was the verse that struck me and I was opened up my saved draft from last week to add in this verse, the only line written in that draft was the same verse that you see up there, Luke 15:10.

God is prescient. God is perfect. God loves you.


Eng Hieang