The land was rugged and desolate, the desert
winds continuously sweeping the sand across the faces of the two
travelers. They struggled onwards knowing soon, hopefully soon,
the journey would end. The girl fought through the waves of fatigue and pain that coursed through her
pregnant body, nine months pregnant to be exact. Yet here she
was riding on the back of a donkey headed to a little town miles
across the desert with her betrothed husband. This was not about
a recent voyage through the desert. The process of this journey
began months ago when the Angel appeared to her that fateful day
saying to her, ‘Most favored one; you will bear the Son of God,’
of all people why her, she must have thought.1
Imagine the thoughts running through her mind as
she probably asked herself, “What will my family, friends, and
relatives say?” Her plans for the future vanished and changed
before her eyes with the one word from the Angel of the Lord.
We take years and months to decide and
prepare ourselves for whatever the Lord may want from
our lives. Oftentimes we even want several confirmations for our
question, “Is this really what you want me to do Lord?” Mary was
not allowed to do a careful cost-benefit-analysis of this call.
She had no idea how long and where this journey would take her
yet she simply said, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me
as you have said.” 2
Withholding nothing she surrendered her will, her
life, and her body, everything to God.
Journeying quickly to Elizabeth’s house her
pregnancy was confirmed in a most delightful way as Elizabeth
exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the
child you will bear! ...Blessed is she who has believed
that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”
3 What a wonder it must have been to first feel Jesus’
presence? In the midst of the fear and hardship, there was joy
as the Holy Spirit inspired.
The thoughts, the fears, the realities Mary faced
were put aside in that one decision to completely obey the Lord,
in simple faith. Knowing the uncertainty of what lay ahead faith
overruled fear. As she faced Joseph three months into her
growingly obvious state he too had to make a decision to obey
the Lord’s instructions. His character and faith were revealed
as he allowed God’s perfect will to be accomplished in both
their lives.
God has a call upon each of our lives; His
will for us is more than anything we can imagine. Our plans can
not compete with what God has in store. The journey is long and
we may never know what lies ahead. The desert storms may rage
around you and the pain of God’s plan birthing inside of you may
bring you to your knees. With a child like faith we can conquer
fear and surrender our lives to something greater.
Luke 1: 46 “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in
God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of
his servant…for the Great One has done great things for me-holy
is His name. His mercy extends to those who fear him.”
I look around and there is nothing but a vast
empty chasm open before me. I look as far as my eyes can see and
just beyond the horizon I see a faint piercing light. Something
inside of me jumps at the sight, as if this sudden deep immeasurable desire of something more has finally been found. I look
again the faintness of the light puts me in a bit of despair as
if maybe there is no hope of reaching it, especially as I look
dejectedly down at the abyss thousands of miles deep near my
feet. What am I supposed to do? For miles around me a hopeless
landscape covers acre upon acre of my view. There is not even
anyone around me to help. As I stand there unable to move, stuck
in the moment waiting, for what I myself am not sure?
It seems that millions across this world are
searching uncertain if they could ever cross that rift between
them and that faint hope across the horizon. There are so many
who feel they have no business even stepping into the Church as
their lives have been so messed up and the preacher is bound to
look straight into their eyes and know every one
of their sins. The distance and differences they feel between
them and ‘cradle’ Christians are too vast and deep that they do
not want to try too hard to know the source of the light and
hope they can see faintly.
How did we become disoriented so much so that we
have forgotten God’s grace and mercy that was so generously
poured out on our lives, we so easily judge the ‘greater’ sins
of those new in faith? We forget where and how far we ourselves
have come. Jesus came to save the sick, poor, needy,
disenfranchised, the sinners. We all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God, yet because we’ve been raised in the Church
we forget that being saved is more than the prayer we prayed
when we were six years old.
This new life we live is about knowing God’s saving grace which has taken us across that deep chasm and
abyss of fears and sins to that light across the horizon. It is
a life that we live forever grateful for His love and
forgiveness. Crossing over that gulf of emptiness is not defined
by the number or intensity of our sins, it is about us realizing
our fragility and allowing ourselves to trust in something
greater than anything our minds can comprehend.
The sins of our past are forgiven and
forgotten but let us continue to live accountable and
responsible for every breath we breathe. The great divide has
been crossed, our lives and backgrounds may differ, and our
ethnicities diverse yet our humanness bring us together in
humility and our thirst for that something greater than
ourselves drives us to the level ground at the foot of the
cross.
Acts 10:15, 33 “Do not call anything impure that God has made
clean…Now we are all here in the presence of God…”
We often get so caught up in our lives,
that we forget the bigger picture in life. The oft used analogy
is that of our lives being part of a puzzle in which our life
pieces fit and mesh together to form a creation grander than our
eyes can visualize. In the infamous picture, ‘the pale blue
dot’, taken by Voyager 1 our planet Earth was captured in a way
that reminds us to always put our lives and situations in perspective.
More than six billion kilometers out of the
Earth’s atmosphere Voyager 1 turned to capture one
last glimpse of our home. The pixels transmitted back to NASA over the
course of several months, came back as a shot of Earth merely
0.12 pixels in size, a pale blue dot suspended in a ray of
light. Not a continent, country, nation, state, race, or
ethnicity to be seen. Not a king, president, general, dictator,
or ruler visible. One could not see the joys of love, or the
sorrows of death, no one could see our famines, destruction, or
our wealth and health. Not even our fabulous sports car, finely
manicured gardens, not a raging waterfall, not even an imposing
desert in sight, nothing but a sunbeam’s speck of dust in the
vast cosmos.
What does this mean? We are not everything? No,
we live not for ourselves, but are purposed for a plan we
cannot wrap our finite minds around.
Not merely a result of random selection,
collision or consequences of past human error and judgment. Our
days though fleeting, is a life full of purpose and hope. Each
of us, just like the creation of our planet and the universe,
are fearfully and wonderfully made. Choose today to live for
God; choose right now to encounter this awesome God. In this
pale blue dot, our pain, our mundane routines, our status,
poverty neither our fame nor fortune visible.
Below: The Pale Blue
Dot
Earth, our home
is created in such a way that is defined for sustaining life. The chemical composition, environment, even the
angles and alignment in space, are all purposed for something
bigger than our daily routines. Creation sings of God’s glory,
truly how great is our God! The universe displays the works of a
God bigger than our minds can fathom. The expanse of the
universe and wonders fashioned so intricately, mysteriously all
proclaiming the greatness of this God we serve.
Below, right – V838 Monocreotis
The above pictures show a design of wonder part
of a system beyond our comprehension. There is a God who is very
real, we marvel at His creation, as it sings the praises
of His glory.
Seeing the vastness and expanse of space in which
our Milky Way galaxy is not even in the center of our own
universe, star formations beautiful and captivating billions of
light years away yet what amazes me the most is love reaching
out to our pale blue dot. God in His infinite love and mercy
sent His Son to take on human form, to be persecuted, rejected,
despised, and treated like a thief by humans with titles created
by yet other humans. All of this to give us eternal life, a
second chance, an abundant life through Jesus Christ.
Are we insignificant lost amongst the vastness of
space, unfulfilled and unsatisfied? Never! God’s original intent
for humankind is significance of a calling, destiny to reach out
to one another, a reflection of God’s character, a creation in
His image, a worshipper in truth and spirit, a life worth living
for. All of it evidenced as the heavens and the earth cry out of
His purposeful, intentional, creative, functional and measured
workmanship.
Indescribable, words fail to portray God’s glory.
It is not about us it is about a God much bigger
than we could have ever imagined, the God who has placed us here
for a purpose and with hope of redemption.
The X Structure at core of the Whirlpool galaxy –
Does it remind you of another familiar cross?
Looking out the window one can see the bombed out
buildings all the way down the deserted city street. Only a few women and children scurry out quickly
to gather necessities back home. Men cautiously walk through the
streets to complete their business for the day. Few of the
beautiful architectural structures that once stood prominently
representing its cultural heritage now lay in rubble. The
landscapes which captured the hearts of many a traveler are hidden under the dense atmosphere of war and terror.
Armies and soldiers set the ambiance wielding weapons that make
our hearts beat just a little faster with apprehension.
Destroyed by the years of war the historical
Churches now remain in pieces of its previous magnificence.
History is taking an unprecedented turn to another continuous
bout of political tension. Freedom now lies only in the hearts
of the people. Salvation is not heard from the voices now
silenced. Courage tested by cowering under the tables while the
walls tremble from the gun shots.
I see today a multitude of countries and people
facing this daily torment of uncertainty. Where are the
Christians? The tables are turning; the stones are now being
cast at those who are standing up for faith and truth. Lives are
lost without knowing the salvation in the name of Jesus. We live
in a place where one would rather conform than be set apart.
They conform to the images and status quo of the media and
societies opinion.
What do you see? More importantly what do you do?
Where are you going in life? Who are you inspiring in this life? What are you
doing for…yourself...or for the Lord?
Speak now or forever hold your piece. There is no
other time than this. Speak up for those losing their souls. Do
not keep quiet for what…a short period of pleasure?
There’s more to life than the next newly released
movie. It is not OK to live for the short lived escape into an
alcohol induced coma. It is not OK to live to spend the night
dancing away to the latest hip hop and reggae beat. Why go
with the status quo? Why not live to be different, to realize our
real purpose in life is to worship the Lord. To have abundant
life through His unfailing love and grace. Why go with the flow,
when we can be so much more.
I see hope…a hope for our future. Do not give in,
do not give up, and do not keep quiet. Speak up for Christ. We live not for ourselves
but for others; that is what we are all about, not trying to be
like anyone else, just Jesus. We should stick out, our words,
our actions; our character should resemble the beat, the music,
the dance, of a different drummer. Why push the boundary line?
Get to a place where beneficial versus permissible is clearly
understood. Millions are lost and billions more are waiting.
“…And they are waiting for you, waiting for me; to open our
hands so He can pour them [God’s love] out. But why would God
trust us with these treasures these precious children of His?
Because God calls us family, He can trust us. Because we have
seen the otherness of God and we long for more! For if you, God,
were the same as the rest You would not be holy and my
un-holiness craves your holiness, your cleansing. You!
Then in the process, we become ‘other’ ourselves; and the
importance of that? [Otherness, is what we are about, to look
outside ourselves and reach out with God’s love] There are so
many stories [societal attractions] being told, vying for my
affections, my passions, my heart, but I refuse to be caught up
in the midst of small stories that seem brilliant at the moment,
but soon become faded glory. I desire to be taken up into God’s
story and into God [Your] great plot for me and mankind. So I
can leap into the chariot of fire. And I ask for humility and
courage to leave it all behind. No matter the cost! Because
Lord, You deserve it…and they need it. Because I love You…and
they need You.
And the spirit and the bride are still crying out…Come Lord
Jesus and You will. You always do.”
I do
not want to fall away from you, Lord. I look neither to the left
nor to the right. I look to You, Lord. Who can walk this path
alone? Thank God gravity pulls me towards your nail scarred
hands.
Do you have the faith to believe? Remember the
stories of the Bible and place your faith in them…in God. In the
strength the Lord gave Samson to destroy
the Philistines. As Samson looked to heaven crying out in
repentance, saying, “God grant me this one last time!
Forgive me! Use me to do your final work in my life!”
Samson leaned forward; sweat pouring from his forehead as he
pushed with every fiber of his God given strength, the pillars
creaked and groaned collapsing into dust and rubble.
Do you believe in the faith God gave Ruth? Her
very obedience to follow YHWEH into a foreign land was the
action of simple faith. A widow of the accursed Moabite peoples,
she followed her mother-in-law to embrace the very land and
people who rejected her heritage. Ruth became a woman known
throughout this new land because of her character and was woven
into the bloodline of our Savior Jesus. Her destiny unfolded in
God’s perfect time, best of all in God’s perfect way.
Salvation from a life of bondage was given to
Rahab, a harlot. Whose very own household became the sole
survivors of the city of Jericho. Do you put your faith in this
freedom?
I read of how it is written, “I am
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” The same God who promised to Abraham his very
seed would outnumber the stars in the sky is the same God I put
my trust in. Do you?
I remember the promises He gave to Esther, Paul,
Jeremiah, and Abraham. These are the promises of salvation from
destruction, promises of a calling to preach the Gospel to the
ends of the world, a promise of a hope and future. I remember
the stories, these words of the Bible, this love poured out in
blood for me…for you.
Love’s own hand writes your future. Your very
days are ordained, each moment known before one even passed.
Remember the promises of the past; they are the keys to your
future. It is never too late to follow in the footsteps of our
Savior. Never too late to choose life, it is never too late to
believe.
Psalms 139: 15
– 16“You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as
I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before
I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”(NLT)
A quote from Jane Addams, a maternal and child health activist
of the early 19th century stated,
“The
good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for
all of us and incorporated into our common life.”
Success should never be taken for granted. The world gets
smaller and smaller everyday, or so it seems. With new technology bursting on to
the scene making travel and communication faster, easier, and more innovative
than ever, nations come closer.
Well…actually
it is only the people which unite;
politics seem as far apart as ever before. In today’s society of the once
described melting pot of America, one can see the world in one city. I walk down
the streets of Washington DC and see the representatives from Croatia, Hungary,
France, England, Swaziland, Ecuador and many, many more. Diversity…the very word
encompasses the differences of uniqueness. There is a need now more than ever
before for the knowledge and ability to adapt and relate to other cultures.
What does it really mean to be able to relate to another
culture, to either go next door to your ethnic friend’s house or
to go across the world to be immersed in their land? In yet
another book I was reading, “The spirit catches you and you
fall down” the author writes of cultural competency and
communication. A refugee family from Laos unable to speak
English and inadequate in the American ways of life face
the difficulties in trying to help their epileptic daughter in
the American medical system. Unfortunately even though this
story took place in the 1980’s the lessons learned or maybe not
yet learned by that medical community is still taking place
today. It is not simply a misunderstanding of customs,
traditions, or herbal medicinal treatments. Pride becomes the
stumbling block on many occasions. With pride we will never even
want to try to understand another’s perspective, view or
culture. Without pride we are able to stop ourselves from
getting in our way.
Do we love one another
as we love ourselves? Missions’ is one concept that encompasses
the very meaning of cultural communication. Barriers are broken
down and work is fulfilled when we serve others with humility.
From this Christian perspective it is as when the disciples
entered into the house, shaking the dust from their long walk in
the heat and dirty unpaved crowded streets of Jerusalem. Some of
them began to walk to where they were to sit, when Jesus
approached carrying a bowl of water while wrapping a towel
around His waist. Jesus; their Master, Savior and the Son
of God, the One whom performed miracles of healing and
deliverance right before their eyes, asked each of them to
remove their sandals. Then without hesitation their Savior
kneeled down and washed their dusty feet. The disciples looked
at each other embarrassed wondering why Jesus was doing this!
Jesus, our perfect example shows us how important it is to love
and serve with humility. There is no other way to reach out to
those misled and disoriented without a Savior, than living a
life of compassion.
The Hmong family, the author wrote of, represents in a way, the
millions trying to find a way to survive in a place they do not
belong. Lost, confused, and trying to find solace in various
means and ways to heal and mend their lives. Leaving Laos was
traumatic, running undercover, through thick jungles and
forests, desperately fleeing their homeland from the Pathet Lao-
the communist guerilla movement and political party. With
heartaches and anguish marking their lives, the families reach
the outskirts of Thailand only to find rejection in the form of
years in filthy refugee camps, with no country wanting them.
Then coming to America only to find themselves blind and deaf to
a society they
could not understand, read, write, or communicate with.
Imagine this despair without hope. Able to see the charts that
record the disease; yet they are blind. Hearing the sounds of
words of instruction; yet they are deaf. Blind and deaf to a
language and culture they cannot speak or understand.
I
read this account and remember that right now millions are
displaced in countries around the world. Genocide in Darfur,
civil war in Sri Lanka, Iraq, Ethiopia, the ever present
conflict with Israel, the increasing difficulties Iran is
portraying and the never ending nuclear tensions between certain
countries. These problems and situations are constantly
pervading over our existence, we can depend on no government or
community. People live in fear of war, disease, famine, and
distress that surround their makeshift tents. Yet, far worse is
the eternity of suffering no one can imagine. They are people
living without the knowledge of the way, the truth, and the
life. Living with eyes blind to hope and ears deafened to the
truth. Look to the Lord Jesus. He is the way, truth and the
life. We are living today just surviving, living for the now.
There is an eternity, are you ready for it? Now, is the time to
look to Jesus, to feel His eternal peace and salvation! Come to
Jesus...just
come to Jesus...He
is waiting with an unconditional love...one that overcomes all
your hurts, pain, and troubles. He gives salvation, peace, and
freedom to live a fulfilling life…To live with an eternal
purpose.
The wind whipped around, seemingly circling the valley carefully,
as if planning an attack. He tried to keep steady, straightening his shoulders
and pushing forward against the wind. His foot slipped slightly away from the
path. It felt as if pushing against a wall; walking through this valley.
All he knew was that somehow he had to keep going on. The sun was going down,
the mountaintops barely visible in the fading light. Hands closely crossed
together over worn out clothes shaking violently, his eyes dejectedly swept over
the dirty ground. He then felt himself being knocked onto his side by the raging
blows of the wind. Was there maybe an escape path he could take?
Are you driven by eternity? You look around at your peers, colleagues, and even fellow
Christians and observe what the driving force is that pushes them towards…what?
We all face this path of choices, the defining moment is the way we walk this
path. The decisions we make will alter the course of the path. We fall, we rise,
and we take each step hesitantly uncertain of what the path will unfold.
In life we will face not only trials, joys, fulfillment, sorrow,
but also temptations. In our young energetic lives we live for today not giving
too much thought for what may be eternal. Yet eternity should be what drives you
to accomplish greater and more adventurous feats. So often we give in,
compromise our beliefs, our values, our standards. A few weeks ago a friend was
telling me how once you are finally out on your own, feeling the wind of freedom
opening up doors for your life, compromise is inevitable. Every new friend
she meets eventually has a turn in allowing her to compromise her beliefs,
values, and standards. This she said was a natural process as we grow older and
supposedly wiser. If we are truly certain of what we believe in, of what we
stand for, why should we compromise?
The temptations we face are never going to start out as the biggest ugly thing one could
imagine. It's a process, beginning as something completely 'innocent'. We should
take a look into our lives…what are the simple, seemingly 'innocent' decisions
we daily make? Living our lives for God doesn't have to be boorish, religious,
and strenuous. We live daily fighting a battle that rages all around trying to
claim our lives, dragging us to lower our standards, disvalue our beliefs, and
bring down our self-esteem. It's far too easy to give in than to fight through
and press on.
Do not allow the winds and storms of our lives to rage against us
hopelessly. Yield your life to God. The ride may be scary and the turns of life
may only come seconds to the midnight hour but we should continue to die to
self. By allowing ourselves to be driven by eternity, there will always be
Someone there to direct our steps to give us the opportunity to live life to the
fullest…without compromise.
God’s gift has
restored our relationship with Him and given us back our lives. And there’s more
life to come - an eternity of life! You can count on this. I want you to put
your foot down. Take a firm stand on these matters so that those who have put
their trust in God will concentrate on the essentials that are good for
everyone. Titus 3:7-8 MES
April brings about
spring rains, flowers, and the hope of long summer days, but to me the need to
travel is once again rising up within me. In my
mind's eye
I picture
the lush, green vegetation that surrounds the valleys in central Sri Lanka, to
big bold city lights with the sounds of car horns, people shouting and police
sirens wailing.
Then the canvas changes to the muddy yellow colors of the sands
of the African deserts’ intensity draining you of energy as the sun joins in the
promotion of the suffocating heat.
There is beauty in
the rain pouring down from the heavens in the cool of an African night. Our
eyes appear wider as the variety of huge colorful lizards lay in silent wait
for the ceasing of the rains. The architectural highlights of each country
beckon the aimless wonderers. Malaysia’s own twin towers, Japan’s sophisticated
streets, or England’s familiar Big Ben.
The
masses of humanity throng dangerously close to each other
as the smells tear through ones mind. The images, sounds, and scents forever
embedded into one’s memory. Who can forget the first time they walked through
the white sands to the blue oceans of Hawaii’s magnificent beaches, gingerly
stepped down the stairs to India’s Madras slums, ran through the streams in
South Korea’s prayer mountains, or climbed to the most breathtaking view from
the height of Sigiriya’s leveled peak?
If one looks
closely, they find uniqueness in faces of the masses that pass by. In a small
village on the outskirts of a city in Nigeria, men, women, and children
live, work, and survive. They go about their daily activities of school and work
in the fields, never venturing outside the perimeter of their village. In the
open Chapel area on a breezy afternoon, they sing and praise the Lord with faith
and passion. Here they reside, shunned by society. Outcasts. Their decomposing
bodies a shocking sight to others around. They are a community of lepers,
worshipping the Lord amid their poverty and lack of a dignified place in
society.
Contentment that is
what I saw in the lives of the leper community. It stems from knowing who you
are in Christ Jesus. There is nothing else, how can there be when everyday, your
very life is decaying, literally before your eyes? Yet there is this
contentment.
Do
you let yourself identify with your circumstances,
your ideals, your status symbols? Are you letting culture dominate your life or
is it your religion? Let your relationship with Christ deepen so that you learn
to identify with Him. Then no matter what cross you have to bear that day, you
have the confidence to face it, knowing who you are in Christ.
There is something
about us humans that draws us to higher heights, constantly trying to outdo our
last success. Never satisfied with what we have, always striving for what is
thought to be better. Why else would this constant need for travel, change, and
better things be driving our lives? People travel aimlessly everyday, consuming
the latest and the greatest, living for nothing. Go, travel, live, give, love,
and learn, but know that there is always a greater impact in other’s lives when
you live for Christ. To live is Christ, to die is gain. To truly live with
passion for life, with satisfaction in our every single action, is to live in
Christ.
There is one
question that I have to ask myself at the end of the day, am I content in
Christ?
What are my motives?
I know I will never be satisfied no matter how many countries I set foot in, or
how many frames I hang on my walls, or whether I get the right career, and life,
unless I first allow myself to be content in the arms of Christ.
The smell of the
stuffy confined quarters of the press was almost suffocating. The fermenting
odors of the wine enveloping the young man, bent over, threshing wheat. He was
hiding from his Nation’s oppressors. Suddenly someone appears seemingly
from nowhere and calls him, “mighty warrior”.
This young man did
not seem like a mighty man of valor, he was hiding in his father’s winepress, he
doubted the Angel of the Lord, was depressed and honestly he had little bit of
an inferiority complex! Yet Gideon was whom the Lord had used to lead an
army of 300 men to restore a Nation.
Elegant, rich tapestries decorated the
place she was now residing in, the opulence and grandeur was overwhelming. She
had no father, nor mother. A relative raised her in humble surroundings, nothing
like what encased her now. Her background and ethnicity kept a secret so she
could stay alive. Her beauty may have been what caught one’s eye, but character
set her apart. Her obedience and courage allowed God to use her to save a
Nation.
There are times we
all want to do something but feel inadequate. Surprisingly all it takes is just
one small step forward
to change the way we think and the ability to seek God’s counsel, to organize
and be aligned with Heavenly guidance, as Esther and Jehosophat did.
These
words constantly run through my mind:
“Every individual person has the call of God on his or her life; that is their
significance in God’s kingdom. We all experience fear when we face new
challenges and responsibilities but it is the way in which we approach them that
makes the difference.”
This
is from one of the last messages my father preached. This March my mother,
sister, and I try not to look back, but pray for God’s grace and strength to
continue to step forward, as we remember this first year since my father went to
be with the Lord. What a legacy he has left behind! My sister and
I remember His words and prayers for us to remember the call of God on our lives
and to continue drawing closer to our Heavenly Father. The
message is completely in line with my father’s life vision: taking up the
challenge of leadership to overcome, to live, and work for the Lord. No matter what, he would somehow manage to teach
the Word of God. That was my father’s heart; it was so inherent in him; the
preaching and teaching that whoever came and wherever he was, he would share.
Esther took the leadership challenge placed before her; she did not surrender
her leadership or faith to fears or the law. God has given each of us a
challenge and call on our lives; He has also given us all we need. Each
one of us has to step out of our comfort zones to complete God’s call on our
life, which is our significant contribution in God’s Kingdom.
Do we
first come together and seek God’s counsel as Esther did and even as Jehosophat
did? As we face these challenges, we put our
faith in the God
who alone created the heavens and the earth.
- Faith is not surrendering to the outside forces.
- Faith is saying, “If I perish, I perish. I know the Lord will make a way for
me.”
- Faith is not surrendering to faces by saying, “How can I go to this person?”
- Faith is not surrendering to obstacles or frustrations.
- Do not surrender faith to fears.
- Do not surrender to fatigue!
- Faith is not surrendering to falsehoods. In reality, we may not have the
ability to go to the king and redeem the people, but Faith is trusting in the
un-provable.
- Faith is not surrendering to forecasts of what people may say.
- Do not surrender to fracturing experiences, flattering experiences, or
fantasies. They may lead you away from God’s plan.
Do
surrender your faith to God. Faith is saying I am coming in the Name of my God,
as David in the Bible ran toward Goliath with a small slingshot and five smooth
stones.
God overcomes human weakness and failure to elevate
our position and rank all the way to His throne room. You can never
underestimate the potential of one encounter. A few moments in the presence of
the King of Kings (God who alone created the heavens and the earth) can change
your destiny.
* In remembrance of my Father, Rev. Dr. David
Ephraim, who went to be with the Lord - March 21, 2006.
The calm serene
ocean waves deceivingly received our team of alumni and students at the
Hambantota playground site. Our project was to build a playground for the
children of that area. The salty, slightly fishy scented breeze whipped around
us whispering reminders of the sorrows of the fateful day of December 26, 2004.
Suffering, it must be a relative word because no suffering that I have ever
experienced can compare to the suffering of those who lost loved ones to the
crashing waves upon the coast of Sri Lanka.
Looking into the
faces of the men, women, and children staring wide-eyed at the team of foreign
and local students who were waiting for the bulldozers to start the process, it
was hard not to picture the flood of images from the media of the tragedy of the
Tsunami. These people standing curiously around the field were ones who lost
everything and… nothing. Most had barely anything to begin with, and then
the Tsunami stripped away what little they had left.
We stood, a year and
half later, taking in the sights of the beach around us. The broken fishing
boats stranded on high land, and the wrecked walls of houses littered across the
sands. We were there to rebuild, but it felt like we would be the ones rebuilt.
An old woman came by offering some bananas for us
to satiate our appetites – she was one who had lost her husband. Several others
offered their thanks and gratitude for our interest and desire to help them. How
selfish the act of caring is? Ironic, isn’t it? Our hearts and minds were
gratified at the thought of doing some good in this world.
Yet, I found there
is an even greater good that we can do. To spread the love and Gospel of Jesus
Christ, who is the only One who can give eternal peace, love, and joy. The One
that cannot be taken away by the very thing He created.
I realized this as
one team member mentioned their philosophy on religion and life. Apparently
striving for a more intimate relationship with the Lord, was something we are
always struggling to achieve, so why even bother! Now this person is in a
happy medium, living and adapting aspects of Christianity to accommodate their
current lifestyle. How sad that we had come and seen this situation of
desperation, which is evident on every face, to have experienced and known the
love of God, and yet some have chosen to reject it completely!
We sometimes forget
the present and watchful eyes around us. There is no happy medium! Truly, I saw
firsthand how a testimony is wasted and meaningless when their actions
contradict what is being said.
We
live a fleeting life, let God use it; let us not waste it! Do you want to live a
life of mediocre existence? Will you ignite both your life and the lives of
future generations? As Christians let us not be religious, let us really live
out this life with passion to pursue a relationship with our Heavenly Father.
As I was just about to figure out the true
meaning of life I came across this quote in a book I was reading, “Surrender
or Starve: Travels in Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea.”
"Sand has various
qualities...The first is the smallness and sameness of its parts...The second is
the endlessness of sand. It is boundless...Where it appears in small heaps it is
disregarded. It is only really striking when the number of grains is infinite,
as on the seashore or in the desert.
Sand is continually
shifting, and it is because of this that, as a crowd symbol, it stands midways
between the fluid and solid symbols. It forms waves like the sea and rises in
clouds, dust is refined sand." (Elias Canetti, Crowds and Power)
There are many crowds of people around the world,
never really thought of or cared about unless their circumstances affect the
larger group of humanity. Yet even if recognized, how easily forgotten they
become after the interest factor is over.
Is it too idealistic to think that maybe, just
maybe people will step up to this responsibility? Even though there are people
who are making a difference and are working to change the way we live, there are
so many who like to live looking down at their feet. As long as they keep
looking down at their own needs, wants, and desires, there is neither time nor
responsibility to look at others.
It has become very apparent that media is
everything to the masses. Entertainment news has become the people's news. How
often and how extensively do we hear about public health and international
issues on the media? Awareness is everything. Businesses and governments
continue to promote or market particular situations while downplaying others
according to their own agendas. Why are the masses more interested in
the so-called moralistic issues of the government instead of the economic
and international policies that affect the rest of the world? I wonder if the
general public even knows just how much the state in which one country is in,
does in fact, (whether the rest of the world likes it or not) affect how Nations
interact?
When looking more carefully into the reasons why
Ethiopia was in their situation, one would find that it was more than famine
this crowd of humanity was facing. The situation was rooted deeply in politics
(revolution, tyranny, and communism). The nameless uniformed masses of men,
women, and children, destitute and clothed in tatters shocked the US audiences.
Americans and the rest of the world began to picture Ethiopia as a country
ravaged by famine, starvation, and ill health. Humanity was lost amongst the
warring parties of militant sects segregating the populations across Ethiopia,
and Eritrea. These self proclaimed politicians, commanders, and leaders voted
into power by their own small factions crushed the dignity of the thousands upon
thousands of hunger-stricken individuals seen across TV screens around the
world. The media, in denial of the actual events that were taking place,
produced documentaries of famine and drought never going past the visible into
the depths of the problem. Thus billions of dollars of aid and food was never
fully appreciated by the ones who needed it the most. Ethiopians in inaccessible
regions to the cameras and notebooks of media journalists were kept lost and
imprisoned in these divisions of rebels. Amazing the positions of leadership and
media created to portray events occurring around the world to help humanity, is
often lost in politics or as they benefit themselves.
At the end of the
day it is the simple fact that although we live in a fallen world we live with
the grace and salvation of a perfect God. This alone is what carries us all. We
are the endless sand, boundless, small and the same. Shifting like the sea and
forming opinions based on the waves of sounds we hear.
Do we not all
survive because of the hope that God gave us? Do we live out our desire to reach
out to the lost? Do we truly live a selfless life? Are we giving into the
passions and emotions of the moment when we hear that inspiring message to go
forth? Is our compassion for the lost a driving force that cannot be stopped by
the busyness of life?
Surrender or Starve?
Surrender our wills, our lives to the Lord. There are those starving for a
Savior, for someone to believe in. Just go ask your unsaved friends, they will
tell you a million options they have chosen to satisfy their hunger.
Some may think I am
biased because although I lived in America the majority of my life; the time I
spent in Sri Lanka changed my heart towards developing countries. Ultimately, I
believe that in some way, be it small or great we should make the effort to go
into the Nations and serve others. I do not want to be regarded as one who by
ignorance and inefficiency only sees the need when it is in striking and
starving numbers.
I know this may not be the all-inspiring fact to
the true meaning of life. At least consider them as change in perspective, for
both yours and mine. Let this New Year be one to Influence, Impact, and
Live…words on paper are nothing without the ability to act them out.
