Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today ... The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still. / Ex 14:13-14 NLT
For the past few days I feel as if my deeds outweigh my love for the King. I was reading through Experiencing God once again and read about asking ourselves whether we can honestly declare Mark 12:30 of loving God with all of my mind, soul and strength. I feel I am falling short of that. My mind struggles to justify before this audience that there must be some reasonable explanation why. Perhaps there is too much work. Aren't I'm doing this for Him anyway? But I have just to let it be. I need God. I need His presence--always.
Last night I went to an evening service whose topic was incidentally about Jacob. His story has been ringing in my life in the last few days. I can always relate to Jacob. Deceitful, bent and a coward. But yet in his most vulnerable moment God struggled with Him. God's question: What is your name? Who are you really? I am Jacob the Deceiver. I am weak. I am proud. I am nothing without You. For us to overcome God sets a mirror in front of us to see and acknowledge who we really are in the light of God.
In the light of this season I read through today's reading. The Israelites are crossing the sea. It required for each of them to believe. Murderous Egyptians on one side, an open sea on the other. What are the odds of dying today? But just as the Master Writer of our story always show himself to be, He's always ready to surprise us beyond our imagination. Let's split the sea so you can pass through it and cross the other side. There are times when I feel trapped between time and the day like sitting on a conveyor belt till it drops you on the edge. But these words of affirmation instructs me how to go through such times:
Do not be afraid. God is saying to me to be strong and take courage. To wait on Him and find new strength. Because He has promised me that He is always with me.
Stand firm. That despite of the challenge. I must never give up on my calling or give in to enemy lies like my life depended on it. No matter what.
Be still. That I must listen to the still small voice. Stillness is silent confidence of knowing who you are and who your God is.
Why? Because God is fighting for us. I am not alone. He is fighting for me. He fights for my trust. He fights for my love. He fights for my success.
The Mind of the Melancholeric Man: Musings on Life and Ministry by Patrick Tan
Consequence of A Hard Heart
Ex. 8:15 But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he became stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had predicted.
As I read through the story of the ten plagues. I am reminded of what happens to a person whose heart is hard--like Pharoah. Through Moses God challenged Pharoah to submit to him. But he was stubborn, just like many of us. So God sends plagues to make him humble. Just like Pharoah, sometimes God corrects us, but still we don’t listen, until our own folly makes us suffer. Then we pray to God to turn the suffering away. And God does turn it away just like in this story. But God takes away our problems, we return to our old ways. The first nine instances Mses demanded Pharoah to let his people go. The first nine instances God sent plagues to demonstrate His Lordship. All through these times Pharoah’s heart was stubborn and hard. Until the last straw came, when his hard heart caused him his firstborn son. May this be a warning to us. That though God loves us and desires the best for us. Our stubbornness and hardness of heart can hinder us from experiencing the good life. God says He is a jealous God. His desire is for you and knows that the way for you to experience the good life is through Him alone. I am reminded by the passage in Hebrews that says of the stubborn Israelites, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart.” Listen and obey.
As I read through the story of the ten plagues. I am reminded of what happens to a person whose heart is hard--like Pharoah. Through Moses God challenged Pharoah to submit to him. But he was stubborn, just like many of us. So God sends plagues to make him humble. Just like Pharoah, sometimes God corrects us, but still we don’t listen, until our own folly makes us suffer. Then we pray to God to turn the suffering away. And God does turn it away just like in this story. But God takes away our problems, we return to our old ways. The first nine instances Mses demanded Pharoah to let his people go. The first nine instances God sent plagues to demonstrate His Lordship. All through these times Pharoah’s heart was stubborn and hard. Until the last straw came, when his hard heart caused him his firstborn son. May this be a warning to us. That though God loves us and desires the best for us. Our stubbornness and hardness of heart can hinder us from experiencing the good life. God says He is a jealous God. His desire is for you and knows that the way for you to experience the good life is through Him alone. I am reminded by the passage in Hebrews that says of the stubborn Israelites, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart.” Listen and obey.
Singapore!
God has graciously allowed us to spend our first wedding anniversary in Singapore for a week. (Posted January 27)
Singapore Top 5 (in no particular order)
Animals - Seeing birds and animals I've never seen before for the first time and close encounters: Flamingos, pelicans, penguins, kangaroo and more!
Sentosa - Universal Studios! Cable car - First time to ride a cable car. The height was nerve wracking!
Efficiency - The transportation MRT & bus is efficient and convenient.
Architecture - Goldmine of architecture from cultural, to colonial, to modern and ultra modern.
Culture - Chinese, Indian and Malay culture in the mix!
Helpless Hagar
But God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “Hagar, what’s wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants." Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well full of water. She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a drink. / Genesis 21:17-19 NLT
I noticed that when God intervenes in our darker days He announces two things. First and well known is the phrase “Don’t be afraid” or “Do not fear”. He told it to Moses, to Gideon, to Mary, to the disciples. When we are afraid to do God’s bidding His invitation is “Do not be afraid." The second and often overlooked is a proceeding command “Go”. That means He is not only telling us not to be afraid just for the sake of comforting us with His presence. He says “Do not be afraid” so that we can “go” and obey His command with courage and assurance of His presence.
“God opened Hagar’s eyes”. For a moment I told myself Hagar must have obeyed God’s command to “Go” first before God opened her eyes. We see that God speaks courage to her to “go” and save Ishmael. The next we see God immediately opening her eyes. It wasn’t mentioned if she obeyed before or after her eyes were opened other than when she saw the well it said she took some water and “went” to the boy. Reflection: Often times we give too much credit upon ourselves saying “it is because I stepped out in faith that God did this and that” or we tell someone, “For God to do something for you, you must first take a step of faith.” While it can be true in other contexts, this passage tells me that I am helpless without God. I cannot do anything good apart from Him. Before I took “a” step of faith towards Him, our unpredictable God already took the greater step, or more like the most unimaginable leap--a leap from heaven to earth to save me. “Before we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. He is salvation even for “pagans” like Hagar and Ishmael.
There is an old chorus that says:
Something beautiful, something good
All my confusions, He understood
All I have to offer Him was brokenness and strife
But He made something beautiful of my life
May you see (as God opens your eyes) that He is always more than we can imagine or think. His love is more than we can imagine what His love looks like. His invitation--Do not be afraid. His purpose for you--Grand. May this knowledge bring you the strength to live for His glory.
I noticed that when God intervenes in our darker days He announces two things. First and well known is the phrase “Don’t be afraid” or “Do not fear”. He told it to Moses, to Gideon, to Mary, to the disciples. When we are afraid to do God’s bidding His invitation is “Do not be afraid." The second and often overlooked is a proceeding command “Go”. That means He is not only telling us not to be afraid just for the sake of comforting us with His presence. He says “Do not be afraid” so that we can “go” and obey His command with courage and assurance of His presence.
“God opened Hagar’s eyes”. For a moment I told myself Hagar must have obeyed God’s command to “Go” first before God opened her eyes. We see that God speaks courage to her to “go” and save Ishmael. The next we see God immediately opening her eyes. It wasn’t mentioned if she obeyed before or after her eyes were opened other than when she saw the well it said she took some water and “went” to the boy. Reflection: Often times we give too much credit upon ourselves saying “it is because I stepped out in faith that God did this and that” or we tell someone, “For God to do something for you, you must first take a step of faith.” While it can be true in other contexts, this passage tells me that I am helpless without God. I cannot do anything good apart from Him. Before I took “a” step of faith towards Him, our unpredictable God already took the greater step, or more like the most unimaginable leap--a leap from heaven to earth to save me. “Before we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. He is salvation even for “pagans” like Hagar and Ishmael.
There is an old chorus that says:
Something beautiful, something good
All my confusions, He understood
All I have to offer Him was brokenness and strife
But He made something beautiful of my life
May you see (as God opens your eyes) that He is always more than we can imagine or think. His love is more than we can imagine what His love looks like. His invitation--Do not be afraid. His purpose for you--Grand. May this knowledge bring you the strength to live for His glory.
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