#95 Where God places us(21st jul 06)

'...doing the will of God from the heart, with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men,
knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord....'
Ephesians 6:5-9

It is always a blessing to meet those with little materially, but blessed bountifully in so many ways by the Lord.
Today, is the first time that I have actually met my dear friend and her family after almost 3 years of working with them on their ministry for the Lord.
This friend of mine uprooted, 6 years back, to the north of Thailand to start an orphanage, taking in mostly HIV affected children. With 3 of her own children, and very little resource other than a faith that this is what the Lord wants, they have done a wonderful job in not just feeding and clothing these kids, but in bringing them and their families to the Lord.
(many of you have been part of the blessings for this orphanage when we raised monies for the truck. Do visit the website at http://www.rainbowcovenanthome.com )

'He who finds his life will lose it and he who loses his life for My sake will find it'
Matthew 10:38-39

As we reflect upon our station in life, whether by choice or design, we often finds ourselves enslaved in this belief that we are ensconced in the drudgeries of the lowlands of our lives, we desire to climb higher in the world's perception of prestige and power.

'But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.'
Matthew 10:31

Even for many Christians, in the the troughs of life where we seem to be caught in the trenches of despair, like the Allied soldiers serving in the brown baked harsh deserts of Iraq, we will struggle with this question to whoever cares to lend us an ear, 'why am I in this wastrel-like hole.'
Isn't God going to keep His promise and give me my dues??

'...do not follow those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell'
Matthew 10:28

Through Adam, the world plunged into the abyss of sin. By the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, sin and its bondage, death was forever nailed to the cross and and its grip on us broken.

Satan, promised Jesus the riches of the world, if only He will just pay obeisance to him, the devil.
Often, in our weakness, we tend to want to castigate God for not giving us the desires of our hearts. At times, a devil may care attitude does indeed seem a more attractive proposition, for at least our immediate needs will be met. Lets not worry about the long term consequences of our fleshly weaknesses.

'But the Scripture declare that the whole world is a prisoner of sin'
Galatians 3:22

So, coming back to commiserate with many of us who are in the perceived wastelands of our lives, be it career, social, family or whatever we hold dear, why did God place me here??

'Remove Your gaze from me, that I may regain strength, before I go away and am no more'
Psalm 39:13

In my days of depression and despair, when God seems so distant, almost remote to non existent, when He seems so cruel to not grant us our very reasonable wishes, a quick read of the Bible would seem to indicate otherwise.

Truly, not just in Matthew but in many parts of the Bible, we are told that God values us more than all other living creatures. He made man in His image, what can be greater honour than this?

'Who redeem your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.....'
Psalm 103:4-5

Are these words of comfort enought to lead my friends to Thailand. to so willing give up the creatures comfort and perceived security of Singapore, to live and minister to the downtrodden and in reality, a lost cause in terms of mortality(as most are HIV infected and will die young).

Yet, as one comprehend how Christ has by example, gave not just love, but salvation to all of us, who did nothing to deserve God's grace, how should we not respond in obedience, rather than in disobedience.

Wherever God places us, He has a purpose. It is always good for us, though often, we might not fathom nor comprehend at that point in time.
To know the will of God, to see God, we must move beyond our own mired thoughts, to willing ourselves to respond as He lead, difficult as it might be.

I have learnt and am still learning, by the Grace of God, in the midst of whatever situation I am in
- "to always ask, why did God place me here, what is His purpose?"
- "to look with thanksgiving on my situation" instead of focussing on the negatives
- "to learn to respond with faith and love, rather than with fear and anger
- "to focus on Him rather than me or my environment

'..that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe..'
Galatians 3:22

'For in the gospel is righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last...'
Romans 1:17
God Blesses

Eng Hieang

A prologue
- God works in a wonderful responsive way when we learn to obey. On totem poles, I got a call yesterday, just after sending out the earlier sharing from a friend quibbling about how she should be ranked much higher, if not for a tabulation error in the Forbes list of Asia's wealthy.
Right after her, I got another call from another friend moaning about her missing out on S$10mio worth of profits from the current enbloc craze in Singapore.
- if some of you promised to still be my friends, despite these continued barrage of words, then I will definitely feel more assured to be led by the Holy Spirit when I told my dear Forbes friend, that it was not such a bad thing to be lower ranked, for kidnappers, tax authorities, investment scammers, private bankers will focus less on them
- And as for my off the mark enbloc friend, wealth is never suffice, contentment is a blessing.
- And in finality, my enbloc friend also shared a story about her friend who trusted her very much with giving her the magic numbers for the local lottery. On that one exception, that friend of her did not place her usual bet and miss the opportunity to strike first price. The lottery friend couldn't sleep for quite a few nites, thinking about the extra million she could have made on top of her existing millions