#154 Simple faith (28 aug 07)

'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen'
Hebrews 11:1

Mother Teresa was an iconic symbol of faithful servanthood. , A pillar of faith whose foundation rest upon a certain God, yet It must have shaken the perception of many when the expected release of her past letters seem to reflect a woman whose faith seemed pretty challenged, who is less certain of the invisible God than her visible persona of solid rock faith.
Was all that strength of faith a farce. The news media loves hype and an expose of the naked truth of this vein, do attract controversy and readership.

Do not judge a book by its cover, some pompous all-knowing critic of the dear lady might sniff in glee now that there is evidence either disproving the faith of Mother Teresa, or better still, if she is faithful, then maybe God does not exist afterall, the poor disappointed soul!
If not the cover, what about the contents then. Surely, her self doubt expressed in her letters are suffice evidence.
But does a few mere letters truly reflect the angst and yet the joy of truly a blessed soul, who obeyed the command of the Lord our God in loving others as much as herself.
Who are we to know her inner emotions, her struggles yet the deep strength and reassurances that only God can give her, to sustain her through all these years.

'I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill. I laid down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me…'
Psalms 3;4-5

Wherever God places us, as believers and followers of His only beloved Son, Lord Jesus Christ, we go in faith, we be willingly led as He leads, and we respond to honour Him with the wisdom that He gives us, always looking unto Him.

'…look not behind thee…..lest thou be consumed'
Genesis 19:17

'But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt'
Genesis 19:26

Yet, like Lot's wife,we often could not resist looking back, away from God, and letting our finite understanding and carnal emotions drive our very thoughts and actions.
Lot's wife turned into a pile of salt when she looked back towards sinful Sodom. What about us?

'Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light'
Matthew 11:28-30

Much as the imperfect living, like to make saints out of the departed, reality is none of us, be it men or women of great prominence or common material can ever come close to the perfect Son of God, Lord Jesus Christ.
God understands our imperfections. His only expectations from us all are to look to Him always with faithful love, and to love others as ourselves. His Spirit will sanctify and edify us as we come unto His presence.
We look to godly men and women for encouragement and inspiration, but it is God whom we must look to for edification and sanctification. For there is only one route to God, via His beloved Son, Lord Jesus Christ.

'But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him'
Hebrews 11:6

In the same local newspaper today, there was a comment written by one of its journalist. A relatively youthful one, for it was placed under the 'Youthlink' section. In the article, the writer, who is probably a 2nd generation Christian lamented on how parents indirectly indoctrinate their children with their spiritual beliefs, instead of giving the child the right to choose.

She is probably right to some extent, for like most parents, we want the best for our children, and in our desire to make them perfect or rather ideal moulds, our imperfections come into play and we could end up doing more damage.
But can the imperfect and impressionable child be left to the machinations of the imperfect and sinful world.

Much as we want them to be imbued with Godly values, are we playing 'God' or are we truly letting God lead us in guiding them?
Our intent to impart Godly values might be right, but it must be God led.
Are we living by example, a life led by the Lord? Or are we translating our expectations into our children, yet living a less than obedient life ourselves?
Are we emulating the lifestyle of the late Princess Diana and yet expect our children to live like Mother Teresa?

'…..though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?'
James 2;14

Half of Greece is burning as of this moment. This unprecedented disaster is threatening the very birthplace of the Olympics and the site of ancient Greeks' man-created temples to their gods. Interestingly, just a few months back, there was an attempt by some pagan Greeks who were keen to revive the ancient practice of worshipping King Zeus and the whole plethora of their mythical gods.

'And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he will come to his sanctuary to pray, but he shall not prevail'
Isaiah 16:12

With the present calamity, it is in times like this that such fantasies take a backstage, and it was reported that acrosss churches in Greece, many are praying for God's salvation and the irony is that Zeus and his merry group of demi-gods(at least their ruins) are at risk of going into oblivion.

Just a few months back, the Australian Premier, John Howard called on Australians to pray for rain, in their drought stricken country, which threatened to cause severe damage to Australia's status as an exporter of agricultural products. The prayers got a deluge of water sometime after, in fact, too much.

'For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also'
James 2:26

It is often in times of extreme challenges, when men are so desperate that they will grasp at any straw that come their way, will they be willing to exercise that act of simple faith by simply asking God to 'take care' of the unresolvable.
In normal times and conditions, a prayerful man might attract sceptism and derision from the intelligent and logical sinful men.
But will God answer the prayers of an imperfect and till recently very disobedient man or woman? Or for that matter, will God answer all prayers asked by supposedly 'faithful' men and women, who are also imperfect, for none, except our Lord Jesus Christ are perfect?

God answers prayers, but the timing, the form is a mystery of God. Question is, will this lead to a changed life of repentance, obedience and faith?

Some do, some don't. But should the faith of another determine your own relationship with the Lord our God?



'Give God time' is a nice little powerpoint that a sister just sent me, as I was penning my sharing.
I took time to look at it and I am glad I did. For it sums up the many frustrations that not just Mother Teresa, but all of us, in our moments of grief, despair, desperation, fears, frustrations or whatever our sinful emotions can concoct, as the limitations of our finite human abilities, caused us to lash out at or question or even doubt the 'unresponsive' God.

Will we still be willing to exercise that free will to come into communion with the 'invisible' God?
Prayers will be answered, if asked in His will. Question is, are we asking in His will and are we ready to respond to His will when prayers are answered?

It is a life long journey with the Lord our God. It is an interesting journey for we will continue to experience His love and grace. The times of solitude, disappointments, despair and other so called less than ideal human experiences, are often also times of cleansing and refinement, for God is 'scrubbing' the dirt off our hearts, so that we can truly be that purified sanctuary for Him to reside in.

'…..O God, who is like unto Thee!
Thou, which hast showed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side'
Psalms 71:19-21

Like Mother Teresa, all of us who profess to seek and know God, will continue to go through this struggle in our inner souls. God understands and He will continue to perfect us till the day He take us off the sinful world.
Like Mother Teresa, I believe that if it is just man driven faith, she and any of us would never be able to sustain that inner strength to love God and to love others. All of us would have long given up.
But I believe Mother Teresa did not, much as the popular press might want to imply otherwise in her letters.

Mother Teresa continued to uphold her faith in God by her work till the end of her temporal life.
Many men and women of faith will continue to do the same as God sustains them in wherever He places them

'My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness. And Your salvation all the day. For I don’t know their limit..'
Psalm 71:15

God Blesses

Eng Hieang