Dear…
'And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people, to it shall the Gentiles seek: and His rest shall be glorious..'
Isaiah 11:10
The bestseller, " Roots" by Alex Haley sparked this desire in America and to a large extent, many parts of the world, in the hearts of many to seek out their roots. Family trees long buried with time and fading memories and where practicality dictates that for the first and subsequent born in the new lands, far away from that of their forefathers, old links were consigned to the dustbins, as the new generation take on the societal if not cultural norms of their new lands, to fit in.
'And that he died for all , that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.'
2 Corinthians 5:15
Fastforward to the last two decades and with the advent of globalization, riding on the coat-tails of free trade and the internet, is the modern man now truly global and rootless? For the world is his oyster. What about his values? His persona has to take on what the world perceives as desirable, be it in the minds of the masses, conjured by the concoctionists or more like distortionists of the modern world, be it in the media, the print ads and even in the once hallowed grounds of academia or even the church.
'So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.'
Psalms 90:12
The fathers in the ACS family of schools just had a one day retreat. It was an eye-opener for many of us to hear for the first time, an eye witness account by one of those who was on the ground, when the Spirit of God was truly upon the boys in ACS, and from that period in the 1970s, were brought forth men who are now church leaders, be it ordained or lay. As was shared in our retreat, Wells of faith were dug then, and while some continue to spring forth today, many were capped, as the distractions of the world, took away the fervour in those youthful hearts then. But the wells are deep, for they are from God and they are still there, to be used as the Lord leads.
'And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.'
Revelations 22:17
Difficult times, be it illnesses or loss of loved ones, an awareness of one's finite mortality or whatever brings us back to earth with a hard thump, usually evokes that sense of vacumn in one's life, that will lead one to seek the comfort of the nostalgic past or possibly meander into the spiritual realm for solace.
'Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old…..'
Lamentations 1:7
Those of us who were the children of the 1950s to early 1970s might better appreciate the material comforts our children today take for granted. But reality is that with the roaring 80s to till recently, many of us more mature folks might have also long forgotten our humbler roots, where running water from the taps was stranger than the familiar community well. And where there was no flushing toilets, but the slurping and gushing of the kampung pigs who happily gather beneath the toilet pit, waiting for whatever is the produce of the day by the individual who happened to be answering the call of nature.
'For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High. Therefore He brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distress..''
Psalms 107:9-14
Flower children we were not in Asia, for unlike the Western world, most of the children of that generation in the 50s-70s, did not have much luxury nor a superfluous material life, to have the luxury of experimenting in more esoteric needs like drugs and sex, to give one that temporal emotional high. Asia then was just reinventing itself and hard work and education was the clarion call, as our generation worked on the sacrifices of our parents. God was very real for many of us then, for much as most families would have the ancestral tablets at home, many of us were exposed to the Christian faith by virtue of our studying in the Christian mission schools. God was real not because many of us truly know Him, but rather, in times of needs, and there were enough samplings of that, the 'foreign father" seemed pretty handy to call upon. And of course, as our lives improve just as the economy grew, many like me have long forgotten the source of our comfort during those early years. But God has never forgotten us and He has now "uncapped' many of those long disused wells and many who are now fathers in my generation, have come back to their source of comfort and grace. But times are short, and we truly believe that God is now "speeding up" the awakening amongst many who have long forgotten their relationship with Him.
'…for great Is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us..'
2 Kings 22:13
As the world begins to feel the full brunt of the global economic standstill the next few months, many will be licking their wounds, and many more will see their material filled secular lives come to a grinding halt, as many will get hit by the triple whammy of loss of financial assets, loss of jobs or bankruptcy of their businesses, and very likely even the roof over their heads, on top of the many brick and mortars that they might have leveraged on.
'And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust….'
Zephaniah 1:17-18
Many fathers, who till recently were too engrossed with the world, and who felt compelled to separate God from their careers and other worldly interests, will have plenty of time to ponder upon their faith or their lack of it. Admonishment it might be, but God is love and He wants to bring us back into His fold. Our relationship with God is a life long process but it must start with faith which can only come from always coming unto His presence.
'…I have found the book of law in the house of the Lord……'
2 Kings 22:8
Recessions are often good for the soul. For it is like the emergency brake being pulled on a runaway car that is fast heading towards the precipice. It will be painful but it is often in letting go of what grips our hearts, will we begin to see the presence of God in our lives.
',..Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord…..I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace, and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place…..'
2 Kings 22:19-20
God has provided. As we begin to pick ourselves up from the wreckage of our lives, we will begin to see His hands in smoothing out the inevitable consequences of our own disobedience. To continue to ignore God and to rely on our own understanding and strength is to bring us ourselves furthur into grief. God has already left us many wells of faith to draw upon. We know the way, it just that we have long placed that knowledge in the unseen reaches of our minds and hearts. God is now drawing us back to Him. And in responding, He will use us to bring our children and loves ones to the same well of peace and joy.
Water does not come up from the well by the turn of the tap. It comes from a conscious respond to pulling up the bucket to draw up the water. The desire to draw upon God's goodness can only come if we consciously seek to know Him.
In North Korea, a closed up communist country, where man plays god, where Christians are persecuted, it was a surprise to me to read recently that the Spirit of God was once truly upon this now seemingly God forsaken place in the early part of the 20th century, from the days of the Japanese occupation right up to World War 2. Whatever happened to those men and women of great faith and fervour. Was God "cruel" in forsaking them?
It is God's timing and not ours, His ways and not ours. But truly the wells of faith have been dug very deep in present day North Korea and much as the repressive regime has tried until today to ostracise, crucify and stump out the faithful, the tree of Christianty might look gaunt, but beneath it, the roots of faith are still very strong. I believe God is preparing to bring forth a full blossoming of the never eradicated Christian faith in North Korea. In fact, it is likely the Christians of the North will be mighty men and women of faith, to be surfaced and used mightily by the Lord, at His time. Even more than the very strong evangelism spirit of their brethren in South Korea, which I suspect, has its roots in North Koreans displaced into the South after the Korean War in the 1950s.
In the increasingly less comfortable world of ours today, is God now removing the caps of faith from the wells He has led us or our forefathers to dig and we are now being called upon to go back to the one and only source of grace and comfort, our Lord Jesus Christ, as described in the opening verse of this sharing (Isaiah 11:10)
'Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!'
Psalms 107:15
'..To be made new in the attitude of your minds and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness'
Ephesians 4:23-24
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
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