Waiting to be READY

And so we continue waiting, just like how Abraham and Sarai waited for a child that God has promised.

"God also said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.'" (Genesis 17:15–16 NIV).

They waited and waited, to the point of frustration.

I am pretty sure that you have been in such a situation, when you believed you have heard from God and started praying faithfully for it. However, as time goes by, you start to get impatient and frustrated; doubts start creeping in - whether you have heard wrongly, or, if God actually will grant your prayer eventually.

Sarah and Abraham knocked on that door for another fourteen years! (Genesis 16:16; Genesis 21:5).

Finally, the breakthrough came because they were totally and wholly dependent upon God to fulfill his promise.

Not dependent because they'd obediently submitted everything to God, but totally dependent because they'd exhausted every other possibility.

And that's often why God delays. He's waiting on us to be ready for him.

Are you ready?

Waiting is HARD..

Yesterday, the Rick Warren devotion sent to my email caught my eye - Waiting is the HARDEST part.

I must say I FULLY AGREE with this (same sentiments anyone?) because all my life I realised that waiting is a process that I experience till now and definitely forever..and..it is HARD!

And many times, we tend to try taking things in our own hands, hoping that it will reduce the waiting time and discomfort of waiting.

Sarai from the Bible is one good example. As you read, Sarai actually took it upon herself to solve God's problem.

Let's take a pause here.

How many times have we tried to take things from the hands of our Creator(i.e. Jesus Christ) and simply forget that we are nothing without the Creator. To put it simply, how can we, the masterpiece of the Creator be able to fathom the thoughts and ways of our Creator??!

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isa 55: 8-10

Jon Walker (author of 'Growing with Purpose,' and editor of the Purpose Driven Life On-line Devotionals) commented:

"When faced with a delayed answer, do you break with God? What does manipulating an answer to our prayers say about our belief in God's character?"

I believe it speaks alot.

Consider it.

Waiting...

Waiting is part and parcel of life, waiting:

for Mum/Dad to bring you to the zoo when you were young; for the day you get to have your own schoolbag; the day you graduate from primary school and step into your teenage years; for the first pager (in my times!); to be called up on stage to receive your graduation certificate; your first interview; for the call from the employer that you've been anticipating; and it goes on and on...waiting for something to happen..

Regardless of our age, the process of waiting is here to stay in our lives.

So, since the process of waiting is here to stay,

SHOULD we learn to wait,
EVEN IF it takes longer than we expected?

Love E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E

Even if it's...

- the neighbour who's constantly blasting his/her music;
- a rude salesperson ;
- the uncooperative groupmate in your project group;
- the unfriendly colleague who sits next to you in the office;
- the person who didn't thank you for holding the door etc

""You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?" - Mt 5: 43-44, 46-48

God reminded me of this verse today. Recently, I have been finding it hard to love someone whom I come into occasional contact with. I don't really know this person very well, but he is close to the family enough for me to have to be in contact with him sometimes. On top of that, I don't find him well-mannered or at least giving me the due respect I deserve.

Most of the times when I see him, a rush of negative emotions just consume me and they translate into actions. Many times, I get frustrated with myself for being two-faced (or double standard) for being able to treat love everyone but not this person.

It's easy to love those who love us and treat us the same way we do to them. But then we are no different from the others (i.e. people who do not have Christ in them)

It's NOT easy (as I've experienced) to love someone when they DO NOT treat us the same way we do to them.

But, that's what MAKES THE DIFFERENCE.

We are called to be salt and light to the world (Mt 5: 13-16) not salt and light that fades into the world.

"Lord, please teach me to have a heart for people just like you - to not judge and respond to them based on their actions. Rather, teach me to love them like you do - to look beyond their flaws and love them for who they are."

No Worries!

Worry is a learned response. We learn to worry from:

i. EXPERIENCE. Out of years of mistakes, failures etc, we form the habit of worrying.
ii. EXAMPLES. Models around us, maybe our parents, friends etc.

Since worry is a learned response, then it can be unlearned!

"An anxious heart weighs a man down” (Proverbs 12:25 NIV).

Worry cannot change the past nor control the future; instead, it only makes us miserable today.

Worry exaggerates the problem - when you worry about a problem, it only gets bigger.

- adapted from Rick Warren's daily devotion

"Lord, teach me to pray instead of worry - to turn all my worries into prayers."

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life” (Philippians 4:6–7 MSG).

Decision-making in the CLEAREST of times..

"Commitments to a preferred future do not come randomly. They are intentionally established at times when you are thinking clearly and are close to God." - Cordeiro, W

How many times have we made the WRONG decisions at the WRONG time (i.e. in the spur of a moment):

- after an argument with our parents;
- a tiff with our boyfriend/husband;
- a bad day at work;
- a discouraged moment in ministry;
- moments of silence while waiting on God;
- people who do not reciprocate according to your expectations etc

I believe we have all made some wrong decisions when we were not in the best 'time' of our lives, and sometimes, these wrong decisions result in long-term consequences that cannot be reversed.

Looking back, I have made some decisions at the wrong 'times' and these have resulted in situations less favorable. I thank God that these bad decisions never led to any major consequences. Now that I am back in Singapore for a season, I'm in a mode where I have to do alot of pondering and planning to the next step of my life - career, relationship, family etc. These are definitely areas of my life that I DO NOT want to make decisions that I will regret later on.

Hence, it is VERY IMPORTANT that we make decisions at the clearest of times - when we are "thinking with insight rather than ambiguity".

The next time you feel discouraged, angry or in a physical setback, take a step back and refrain from making any hasty decisions. Instead, allow yourself to take control of your emotions before you make any decisions.

Take Time Out to Reflect

"The best lives are like notebooks whose writings are read and reflected upon over and over again. Lessons are extracted and futures reassessed." Wayne Cordeiro

It hit home today the importance of taking time out to rest and reflect.

Imagine the amount of time you've wasted committing the same mistakes in life, ministries, relationships etc. If only we are disciplined enough to sit down and reflect on what was good/bad, then alot of time could be saved!!

Having more free time on hand back in Singapore has really given me the time out to reflect on the past few months, even years. This is the only (and start to many) time that I've really sat down to pen down my thoughts and not merely running it through my mind and shaking it off at the end of the day.

As Wayne mentioned, the BEST notebooks of life is one that is reflected upon over and over again - to the extent that the 'pages' become seasoned as a result of the constant 'revisits'. The best notebooks of life is NOT one that has a detailed record of everything good/bad and looks pretty; BUT has never been revisited.

"Experience alone will not make one wiser. When we repeat a mistake, experience only reminds us that we made the same blunder before. Experience plus reflection will grant us insight, and insight helps us to grow and change." Wayne Cordeiro

I want to be one who has insight - which will help me to grow and change.

Time to take time out to reflect!

Our acceptance is NOT determined by anything or anyone

"Most of us spend our entire lives trying to earn acceptance. We want to earn it from our parents, peers, partners in life, from people we respect, maybe even from people we envy. The drive to be accepted is a deep drive that can influence the kind of clothes you wear, the kind of car you drive, the kind of house you buy, even the career you choose." - Rick Warren's daily devotion

I thought by changing my dress style, I'll be accepted by the 'cool' people;
I thought by doing what my peers do, I'll be accepted by them;
I thought by being someone that conforms to the society, I'll be accepted.

So many 'I thought's, but ultimately, I have come to the realization that I will never be happy if I allow my acceptance to be determined by something or someone.

I thank God that I do not have to earn His acceptance, I don't have to prove myself to Him. Jesus accepts me and it is not based on my performance (if it was, I think it'll take me a lifetime to earn His acceptance!!)

If there is one person I want acceptance from, it is God. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Is your acceptance determined by anything or anyone today?

We all give our life for something..

In our lives, like it or not, we give our lives for something. Some give their lives for their career, some for their hobby, some for the fame, some for the people around them, some simply for the term of their lives.

As for me, I used to spend my life trying to please others - trying to fit into a mold defined by others, and many of us will know that it wouldn't work out at the end. We can never please everyone around us, in the midst of doing so, we just end up frustrating ourselves and setting 'goals' we can never achieve.

I have decided, that I will not live my life for others; I want to live a life that counts - a life for God!

What about you?

MISSing them already!!!

"God, please break down the 'walls' that are hindering my faith."

What is right?

“We should choose to follow what is right. But first of all we must define among ourselves what is good” - Job 34:4 LB

Everything we do is somehow influenced by the values we have - our actions in life are largely determined by the values we hold:

How we decide to react when someone treats us unfairly;
How we decide to respond to a situation perceived favorably by our friends when they are looking at us;
How we allow the norms of society to replace what is right (in the eyes of God) etc

What kind of values do you have today - are they shaped by society (i.e. parents, friends, experiences etc); OR are they shaped by that of God.

Values determined by Man are fallible; but values based on the Word of God is infallible.

Lord, teach me to learn what is right and daily make the conscious decision to NOT follow the norm BUT follow what is right.

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." - 2 Tim 3: 7

I am still fighting the good fight, I have yet to finish the race and I am still learning daily to keep the faith.

Father I pray that you teach me to fight the good fight till the end, to last the race. Not to give up halfway because of anything/anyone, for nothing and no one is GREATER than you are. Teach me to walk righteously with you daily despite my weaknesses and imperfection, for I have a PERFECT Father and God. In Jesus' Name, AMEN