IF ONLY....

Inadvertently, we often find ourselves in unpleasant circumstances that we do not wish for. If only life could be a little more sweet and pleasant, more bearable, and comfortable ...if only. Who knows, we might decide to stay on in this world hoping to taste the elixir of immortality, love the things of this world to bits, and not be concerned about the issue of eternity, about God, and about salvation at all! HELLO, THIS WORLD IS NOT OUR HOME!

Those who put their entire "stack" on this world or who believe that life here on earth is what it is and ever will have already decided that there is no hereafter, no God, and no purpose in life. These are the ones who find it unreasonable when a little trouble comes their way, when some unpleasant situations hit the fan, and when confronted with pain and suffering. They only want to live in a sugar-coated fantasy world of non-interruption of their dreams, perfect playout of conveniences, and absolute freedom to live their own lives. No wonder it is so easy to take the escape route for some when things get tough or to live frivolously, riotously, and carelessly without restraint for others – “eat, drink and be merry” mentality!

I hope that the followers of Christ would heed God’s Word and not be swayed by the ideologies of this world. The humanistic secular ideas (worldviews) are often fatalistic, deterministic, nihilistic and depressive! When we refuse to believe and put our trust in someone bigger than us, someone who is our Master Designer, but desire to be free from Him that all the talks of a greater good for mankind, the freedom of choice, morality, and human rights become futile, pointless and useless. There needs to be a main focal point, a divine compass, in our lives to make life worth living and a destiny worth pursuing! And that divine compass is none other than the God who created us in His image, who loves us with an everlasting love, and who has a plan for us, a plan for good and not for evil! Only when we return to our true calling because he has placed eternity in our hearts that we find our “greater good”, our divine destiny or else we will continue in the cesspool of sin, pride, and selfish arrogance.

I can’t, for the life of me, understand those who accused God of the violence in this world. They say: How could a loving God allow so much evil in the world? They blatantly accused monotheistic religions as the main culprits for some of our violent history – the crusades, the inquisitions, and the wars caused by religious conflicts. They accused God of killing women and children, for injustice because he hated Cain but loved Abel and the many accounts of God’s judgments in the Christian bible (especially in the Old Testament). Yet, the same people forgot about the millions upon millions of innocent people who were butchered, tortured, and murdered for the last 80 years at the hand of dictators and evil personified. They are all well-known professed atheists – Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Pol Pot and Chairman Mao, to name a few. It was estimated that between these five characters they have sent close to 100 million innocent people to their early grave (not counting those who died during wartime).

So folks, let’s not be too comfortable with this world. Let us serve Him while yet it is still daytime. Let’s reach out in love to those around us who have yet to come to know God and His Son Jesus who died for the sins of the world. We have a hope. We have a destiny. We have eternity in our hearts.

CHRIST’S KINGDOM IN OUR HOME

It’s been quite a while since I last post on FB. For a long while my post centered on the trial that my family and I was going through, and the journey of faith that I had to journey through. At those times, there were many things to ponder, many issues to deal with, and many questions that needed answers. Well, this valley of pain and uncomfortableness have pretty much out of sight now, but still there is a sense of emptiness within my heart. It’s not that I don’t have things to do and that I have so much time on hand to waste in thinking. It’s not that I have a mountain of obstacles to overcome or a valley of despair that I have to conquer. I enjoy the work of the ministry. I enjoy my present status in life. In fact, it’s already almost a year since I lost my wife. I have wonderful children and I don’t have any financial burden, but still there’s a nagging emptiness that I could not put my finger on.

I don’t want to sound like I am whining or complaining. I am not saying that I am sad. I am not even saying that I am not satisfied in life – especially in Christ. I guess there’s going to be that feeling of losing someone who is a part of you for so long that’s not going away for the rest of your life. I like to move on – as some have suggested that – but it’s easier said than done.

So where is God in all of this? I don’t have an answer, but I know deeply within my heart that God loves me and He takes care of me. I have no doubt of His goodness toward me and my family. In fact, God is the strength of my life, and through it all, He is faithful and compassionate. But every day I came back home and deeply felt the absence of the love of my life. I missed the laughter, the silly quarrels, and the times we watch Asian Food Channel, the only TV Show she watched. Of course, I missed the family prayer and Bible reading. I missed her cooking, going to Tesco and Sunshine Farlim, and wet market. How many things we take for granted until …. Now I missed her! How I wished I could have done more for her, spend more time with her, and take her for holidays.

Even as the church stress on Christ’s Kingdom in our home in this few months I pray that each one of us would treasure our family – our spouse, children, parents, and extended family (church friends). We need to treasure relationship – “owe no one anything except to love” – truly love one another while they are still here. There’s no point rehearsing all our love for our parents, spouse and children when they are no longer around. Love while they are still alive and it would be the best thing God would have us do!