the time of singing has come!

I read a short article recently and I really liked it. It is titled "And this, too, shall pass" and it was written that depending on how you feel at the moment, these words can have a different effect.

The example given was vacation. Say, you are on a vacation right now. All worries are shoved to the back of your mind and you are totally immersed in the enjoyment of your holiday. Then someone drop the bomb on you and tell you "And this, too, shall pass." Suddenly, reality slaps you in the face again and you realised that eventually you will go back to the real world, with the stack of neverending work waiting for you to do and the neverending bills to pay.

I shall use another example. Say, you are participating in a race and are in the final lap. You strived and pushed and there! You are the first to cross the finish line. The entire crowd cheered for you. All glory and honour are bestowed upon you. At that point in time, you are a hero in everyone's eye. But, it shall come to pass too that the medal you won will be left on the shelf collecting dust and "heroes" after "heroes" emerge such that nobody remembers your final stride in your winning race anymore.

On the other hand, these words will probably do you good when you are feeling depressed. Because time will pass, the rain will stop, and the sun will come up again. The things that you worry about will come to pass. We say time will heal the pain. Whatever hurt you may be feeling right now will come to pass as well.

The article ended in a rather melancholic note.

"We could only wish it weren't so, wish that we could control the hands of time. But it doesn't really matter now. Because this moment too, shall pass... and the next... and the next."

It did made me melancholy for a while but I would like to share some thoughts which I gathered from this short reflection, using a Christian perspective.

We often console people with "God will bring it to pass." Or at least, I have been consoled this way a few times and I like to use this sentence to console others as well. Whether the circumstances we are in is a good one or a bad one, we need to understand that they will all come to pass. Most importantly, we need to remember the Big Guy behind the picture, that is our Almighty God.

"Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass." Psalms 37:5

There is no need to be melancholic over having no control of time, because we know that it is all in the hands of our heavenly Father. He is in full control. For times when we are happy, we ought to then give thanks for these little blessings in our life. Worrying about the future and what is to come may actually do more harm than good here, and we are also taught not to worry about tomorrow.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matthew 6:34

For times when it gets tough, we ought to trust in God, that He will indeed bring it to pass. And that He will never let us be tempted beyond what we are able.

"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

And with this, we know that both good and bad times will come to pass. Indeed, nothing in this world is eternal. This is another point we can learn here. In fact, the author wrote that men like to escape reality by "clinging to that last thread of happiness. But as long as you live in good 'ld Earth, the apple will always come down." Truly, the world that we are living in is not perfect. And men are often misled to seek after temporal happiness instead of that everlasting one. We ought not to put our hopes on things on earth, rather we should place our hopes on things above.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18

Finally, even though all things shall pass, knowing that God is behind it all, it makes everything seems a little more bearable, isn't it so? For me, I know that God is with me every step of my life and his guiding hand is in every task that I endeavour. I also know that my labour is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58) and that He remembers all my works. Most importantly, God will definitely bring it to pass his salvation plan! The day shall come that those who belong to Him shall live with Him for eternity in Heaven.

Our God is a faithful God. His promises shall be brought to pass.

"Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;" Deuteronomy 7:9


Acknowledgement:
"And this, too, shall pass" by Carina Calugcug
in The Ridge (NUSSU) January 2007

1) Be punctual.

2) Sleep before 1 am.

3) Read the Bible daily.

haaa.. i haven been blogging! hmmm doesnt seem to have any inspirations. like that its bad la! cos like its right after theolo when i am fed the word of God and I say I have got no inspiration to write!!? :S

guess i've been rather busy with the start of a new semester.. hope things get settled down soon. And yeah.. Im not going perth for exchange this july. missed the deadline to apply by a day! haha sorry, joyce! i might try next year!

Yeppp and so i made three resolutions this new year! haha. And I am determined to stick to them! To be punctual pertains to my character-building. If I can't even be on time, how can I be a living testimony for God!? To sleep before 1am pertains to my physical health. Our body is the temple of God. We ought to care more for it and give our body enough rest. Only then can we have the physical energy to do His work and to abide by Him. My third resolution pertains to my spiritual health. Only by feasting on His word can we find the spiritual strength to go on.

Hope that this three resolutions can make me a better person in the sight of God and men as well. This year shall be a real busy one but I am really happy to be a part of it all. Thank God so much for His abundant grace and mercy. Im looking forward to a WEDDING, to church's 80th anniversary, and to choir SABAH trip! I also look forward to a year of service. Pray that I can do more for the house of God but then again, lets not rush too much into things. I am still an infant! (: pray that I may be weaned of spiritual milk soon and able to take in solid food (1 Cor 3:2; Heb 5:14)!

When I was a little, my mother used to embroider a great deal. I would sit at her knee and look up from the floor and ask what she was doing. She informed me that she was embroidering.

I told her that it looked like a mess from where I was. As from the underside I watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held in her hand, I complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I sat.

She would smile at me, look down and gently say, "My child, you go about your playing for awhile, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side." I would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my view.

A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother's voice say, "Come and sit on my knee." This I did only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower or a sunset. I could not believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy.

Then Mother would say to me, "My child, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre-drawn plan on the top. It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing."

Many times through the years I have looked up to my Heavenly Father and said, "Father, what are You doing?" He has answered, "I am embroidering your life." I say, "But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark."

The Father seems to tell me, "My child, you go about your business of doing My business, and one day I will bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee and you will see the plan from My side."

Have you had a week like this? Or a month? Or a lifetime? If we have submitted our life to the craftsmanship of the Father, then we are assured that it will work out just fine. Even if we can't see the end result, or even what it looks like from God's perspective, we can have faith and trust in Him to make our life into a beautiful portrait for His glory!

Im feeling rather sad.... if there are certain things or desires that you really can't let go, does it really mean that you are not worthy to receive the crown of righteousness on the last day?

What happens if you wilfully acted against the will of God?

Do prayers really work? All the time? For all things?

It's strange. Tears can simply roll down by themselves, while my heart is still undecided. It's weird because you can't help feeling sad. Sometimes, you dunno why but you just grieve. I think its amazing because it's the prompting of the Holy Spirit that dwells in you. I marvel at the wonderful grace of God, because after you had went against His will, He still knocks at your heart's door, calling you to repent and go back to Him. Who else can do such a great thing? How can I do such a thing against my God? (Genesis 39:9)

"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned." Hebrews 6:4-8

Thank you, Jesus, for the breath that I still have today.