Last Monday, we had Bible study session at pastor soon yong's house, this time, Daniel (pastor sy's neighbour in the US) was there to share with us on missions. He recounted one of the funniest moments - he saw soon yong go out of the house to throw the thrash in a coat, shorts and boots heh :P funny guys hahaha
Anyway he shared that he went to seminary and took 6 years to complete instead of the usual 4 because of family commitments. Daniel was married to Rachel at the age of 21. GASP THAT'S MY AGE (in 7 months time). He went through seminary while working as well, so he sacrificed sleep and would wake up really early in the morning. I think I should pick up the habit of waking early from these godly man so that I can 'gain' time as well! Daniel went to seminary after his studies due to counsel he received from older christians, including rick holland. One point he raised was that, if a group of godly men gives you advise which all point to a certain direction, then it must be at least something worthy to be considered prayerfully about.
In his talk, he shared about his initial inclination to head over to Brazil to do missions but apparently the LORD closed that door. He was then called to the mission field in Lebanon as there were requests for help sent out from there. I admire Rachel's submission to his decision despite her initial unease. We skyped with Rachel after that as we heard her share her experience of how the LORD brought her to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and her conversion through the power of God inherent in His Word. I really really admire both of their submission to the sovereignty of Christ and as their LORD truly.
Lebanon is a pretty complicated place with the conflicts between the sunnis and the shi'ites. It is also a muslim dominated nation. However it is also a land of opportunity! It is the only arab nation to allow the people there to be trained as pastors! I was greatly amazed by the fact that such a door exists!
We also talked about how Daniel jio-ed Rachel, how she stood him up for the first two dates cause she had a severe migraine, poor thing.. How Daniel asked his 'competitors' whether Rachel was a godly woman as he perceived her to be, so as to make sure that he is not blinded by the attraction to her and they confirmed his perception too. I was like.. wow. And yea Rachel was one of the 'long hair sweet faced' girls haha! So Daniel had many 'competitors' back then! Now they already have 5 kids wow. It was a good counsel when he told us to have a biblical view on having children. In the Singaporean context, $ is something which constricts our perception and potentially blinds us from having a biblical view on the issue.
During small talks, we asked how he knew Rachel was the one, how he knew Lebanon was where he should go, basically we were questioning the basis upon which he made his decisions.. He shared that if we maintained a close walk with the LORD then when we pray, we will get what we desire for those would correspond with that of the LORD's. It was such a succinct and natural reply which put me to shame. He was truly living a life as described in psalms 1. A life that is sustained by the Word of God, provided for and bearing fruit in season, growth that was... flowing, natural, unhindered. Many a times, we complicate matters, we put in our own erroneous theology, our corrupted secular mindsets, let our hidden evil desires get in the way of things. What we ought to do as Christians is simply to live by the Word, live by the Spirit. I quote Adam Khoo, "It is simple, but it is not easy."
I heard Adam speak in a seminar by Great Eastern and he was speaking on motivation and tips to play the game in today's economy, on the existing industries, how to get rich, etc.
I thought this statement is also applicable in life's pilgrimage. It is simple because
seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:3)
yet at the same time is is not easy as we face our flesh, enemies within the church (false teachers) and without (Satan and the world). We take heart though, that the battle is not ours, but the LORD's. Thank God! Because if it were not so, the battle would have been arduous, exhausting, doomed to fail and ultimately utterly hopeless. What a pitiful state man would have become if it were so!
We rest in the fact that the LORD has won the victory over sin.
No comments:
Post a Comment