‘He that trusteth in his riches shall fall; but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf’
Proverbs 11:28
In my kampong days, staying in thatched roof huts in the 1960s, bamboo trees do not exactly bring back fond memories. My kampong used to have a communal well fringed by a swathe of bamboo trees.
None of us kids were too game to want to go too near the deep well, with its murky, muddy waters, having been warned of the dangers that lie beneath.
The sturdy yet often swaying bamboo trees with its short but outstretched leaves, as the wind blows, brings to our young minds, the specter of hidden spirits residing within these trees, waiting to grab the soul of the next foolhardy boy, who dared to venture that nearer the brownish, bamboo leaves strewn pool of water.
Just yesterday, as was pondering upon a word a beloved brother shared with me on the need to truly yield to the Lord, the image of the bamboo tree came to my mind.
The bamboo is a very hard and sturdy but spiny tree. Yet, it never stands firm against the elements of nature, ie the wind and instead moves with it, while still remaining steadfastly grounded at its base.
In pristine sunny weather, when the swaying is but a mere movement, its’ luscious green leaves provoke a sense of peace and tranquility in the observer.
Scenes of bamboo groves are a popular subject amongst Chinese artists of old.
Followers of Christ are sometimes eyed with the lenses of cynicism and pity. Why??
For we often in ecstatic glee and passionate joy, affirm that God spoke to us.
True, there are instances of one taking an event or a verse from the Bible and ascribing it erroneously to the Lord speaking to us.
Yet, such ‘co-incidences’ of events are at best a phenomena, if it does not lead us back to the attributes of love and inner peace.
For God is love and peace is what He gives us on earth.
Today, in church; how God can speak to us even in a staid church, Proverbs 11:28(as above) was what I read in the church bulletin this morning.
What was most interesting was that the verse was used to front a lovely picture of some moon soaked, bamboo trees.
At lunch, as I entered the restaurant, guess what?? The frontage of the restaurant was decorated by a roll of sturdy bamboo trees.
Enough of this madness and foolishness, as King Lear would have exclaimed to his men(aka Shakespeare).
You must all be ‘bamboozled’ by now.
‘Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time’
1 Peter 5:6
To know the Word of God and to live out the Word of God is often two quite distinct proposition for many.
God warned against pride, but all of us are often self-righteous in the way we live out our faith.
God warned against lusts, but deep inside our inner being, our sinfulness often come thrusting out to fulfill our short term desires when a gust of lust blows past us.
God wants us to love Him with all our heart, soul and mind and acknowledge Him in all our ways.
Yet, our mouths spouts out piousness freely, our hearts are often so fleeting, whenever, mammon brings along its manifold temptations.
God wants us to love our neighbours as ourselves. For how can we profess to love God, the unseen, when we cannot love our neighbours, the seen.
Yet, often we love to see our neighbours change into our ideal mould and we find it hard to love them when they do not
Like the bamboo tree, I must learn to yield to the will of God. In yielding, I often look weak and frail, something that runs contrary to men’s sense of right and wrong.
Yet in being firmly grounded in His Word and in loving, God transforms me and mould me even as He ‘stretches’ me.
‘Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange things happened unto you;
But rejoice, in asmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy’
1 Peter 4:12-13
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