Dear……
‘God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed…’
Psalm 46:1-2
Yesterday was a troubling day for me. But is not trouble a cloak that all of us wear in this sinful world? Being a faithful follower of our Lord Jesus Christ does not mean no troubles, in fact, we are at the frontline of Satan’s wrath. But God is Sovereign and I am often reminded and reassured that truly, pain indeed does bring us great gain, in the greater purpose that God has for all of us, to be like Him and to be used as the purified lamp upon which His light shines forth into the darkness that encapsulates the lives of many.
‘..Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous. And His ears are open to their prayers….’
1 Peter 3:11-12
In the days of pre-Gorbachev, when the old Soviet Union was truly communists, the Russian Rouble was not a desired currency of choice, and many Russians often stashed away US dollars, obtained from the black markets, and this squirreling habit is often heightened in times of perceived troubles, in the burgeoning communist regime.
The same for most of us. We often seek the things of the world, not just for that quick but temporal fix(no different from that of a drug addict), but equate such things, be it material wealth, good health or even the sanctity of the family and friends as our crutches in a challenging world. But God is truly the only sanctuary and source of all comfort and grace, yet, it often takes a prolonged and intense buffeting before many of us will truly recognize and acknowledge His Sovereignty.
‘But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear, having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.’
1 Peter 3:15-16
The years of determined desire on my part to seek God first has indeed helped me tremendously. The burdens of the day’s troubles still weigh upon my heart. But going to God has make it less burdensome and He has helped me to focus on His will, rather than what my troubled heart perceives. God will always make a way at every crossroads of our lives, we must be very mindful of that and learn to take time to be still, rather than react as is our sinful instinct, to what our senses perceive. James in the Bible reminds us of the need to submit to God, then resist the devil which will flee from us. But most of us tend to resist the devil and hardly give much thought to the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, Whom God has provided to lead, guide and fight our battles.
Be still, and know that I am God…’
Psalm 46:10
Time out with God is paramount in our journey of faith. Cacophony is a word that I have been testing my son on, in his vocabulary gymnastics that he does before he goes to bed. A flock of geese talking incessantly is probably the closest pictorial representation to the high decibel level that permeates our daily lives. Pilfer is another word in the routine exercise with my son. In the midst of so much distractions in our lives, the devil indeed find it easy to steal our soul from right under our nose
One trip to Shanghai is probably not a good indicator of life there. But, most will agree that it is indeed a vibrant if not incessant place. The hardware are gleaming new, though the software in terms of civic behavior still lags, but no doubt improving. Yet, it is a place where anyone with a desire to plug into the vibrancy of a resurgent China, the present focal point of the world, must spend some time in. It is reminiscence of, though on a much bigger scale, the Asian tiger economies of South East Asia in the 1990s(before the onset of the debilitating Asian crisis), or the youthful exuberance of the now more sedate internet boom of the late 1990s centered San Hose in the Silicon Valley, which has since been deflated for most of this decade. And not many might remember that the present limpid Japan was king of the heap back in the Japanese Yen intoxicated 1980s.
Will China go the same way and come back hard down to Earth and stay flat there for a long time?
I think not, at least not flat for some time, given its still early phase as an emerging economic powerhouse. But that not does not mean no extreme volatilities as it goes through the inevitable growth pangs.
But one other thing that did strike me is the number of non-Chinese now residing in Shanghai, who are more conversant in Mandarin than me. Time to move from being Anglophile to Sinophile.
The world has now converged upon China, especially Shanghai, its commonality being a place to make great riches, given that Shanghai is fast regaining its status as the financial centre of Asia, if not the world eventually. Would Shanghai also qualify as the proverbial “Tower of Babel” where sinful men once united by greed and other litany of sins, decide to build a very, very high tower to Heaven. With the World Expo starting in May this year, I am sure there will be more nationalities converging in one place than ever before. And if one were to throw in the rising phoenixes or more like increasingly brand new mega buildings sprouting up in Pudong, the now very dead chaps from the old Babel will feel quite right at home in Shanghai.
But maybe not. I had the privilege of attending church service at a rustic church located in the French Concession of Shanghai, twice over, once on Good Friday, and the other on Easter Sunday. The Good Friday was a Mandarin service and the bulk of attendees were not just locals, but mainly those of age 60 and above and mainly of limited material means. Yet, the strength of faith seems to emanate forth and their vocalizing of the word “Amen” truly resonates forth from the heart, putting to shame many of us relatively younger folks. On Easter Sunday, I attended the same church, but an English language service. I have never seen so many people of differing nationalities gathered in church, though it is a common sight in the pubs and I am gratified to know that there are many Westerners who have not turned away from the Lord. It is indeed an eye opener for the biased me.
Shanghai might seem to be of the world, but God hands are there and all is not lost. So where is the Tower of Babel?
The thoughts above were with me when I returned from Shanghai two weeks back, and today, as I now start to complete the rest of this sharing the Lord brought me to the news about the potential longer term paralyzing impact of the volcanic ash from Iceland upon a large part or more like the prosperous part of Europe, with air travel grounded. It did just struck me that the Tower of Babel is already a work in progress in Europe. A continent that was once the hub of Christianity is now very much secular. And the last few stronghold of the Christian faith is now under severe attack, with the recent spate of news on the Vatican and the Pope. Europe this year, has its more than fair share of natural disasters and economic pressures , for this seems to be the year of dominant bad news for Europe, which has taken over the unwanted mantle of troubled continent from the USA.
Europe is a place of great disunity and varied languages and social prejudices. It is where both World Wars have its origins. It is also where the most inhumane treatment of a fellow human being occurred, when the Nazis determined extermination of the Jews, led to the surviving Jewish diaspora finally having the will to return to their long abandoned homeland of present day Israel. Europe also has the longest transient “homeless’ discriminated race in the world, the gypsies.
Tall buildings Europe might not be able to match those in Dubai, Shanghai or even Taipei or KL. But for the past couple of decades, Europe has been steadily coming together through the European Union. And much as there are still many challenges, the “Tower of Babel” of one united Europe is increasingly becoming a reality. The Iron Curtain of communism that has kept Europe apart has since collapsed with the Berlin Wall. What is missing is one dominant figure, the anti-Christ to finally gel the economic union into one complete nation.
It will come, as the continued fiscal ill discipline and almost institutionalized selfishness of the present Continental European culture will ensure that few will turn back to God and do the right thing.
But the British Isles is still a missing part of this great plan. With the subprime, the last strong bastion, at least as a nation which still symbolically place God as above the Queen, will increasingly be forced to surrender all to seek shelter in a greater Europe, for the British economy might not be Iceland, and with meltdowns increasingly habitual, even Pax Britania is not immune, for Britain had to seek IMF help back in 1976 and lightning can strike twice.
A recent article I read, talked about British Anglican bishops protesting unfair treatment of Christians in their workplace when they profess their faith. How far down the spiritual drain the once great Christian nation of Britain has gone, for a large part of the world owes its knowledge of the gospel to the steadfast and brave British missionaries. And much as King Henry supported the nascent Protestant movement for the wrong reason, God used him to bring about a renewal of the Christian faith, from the then increasingly drifting faith of some of the upper echelons of the Roman Catholic church during that period.
.
Too much knowledge might have really made me mad, or at least hallucinate. So forgive me for this piece of babble. But then, lately the whole world has become crazier than the norm. Not just in the natural, given the regularity of earthquakes, the weather, and other calamities. But the bubble inflating all over the world, illogical as it is, will seem logical for many who can no longer resist the lure of wealth accumulation, for who would like to argue against making monies, if mammon is what one worships. But the only natural thing about men is that they are self deceiving, and the inevitable rubble will always come after the bubble. When ? No one knows, but it is not because we do not see the signs, but rather, like the men of old who thought that building a very tall tower will bring them nearer God or even replace Him, when in fact our good Lord is omnipresent and the only building His Spirit will reside in is a humble and contrite heart.
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(16 April 10)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment