To go or not to go...

Let's face it! We've all been in indecisive situations that rob our minds of clarity and our hearts of peace. It can often be a struggle trying to figure out what God's will is, if we want to do it and if you are on the right track. What's worse, those around you also give their opinions, confusing you further. As I was going through one such phase in my life, I foraged through the Bible to help me relate to someone...guess what? I found a lot of people but these were the top three people I looked at, whose lives displayed tricky choices but a wonder working God.

Esther

Hearing about Haman's plot against the Israelites, Mordecai suggested that Esther speak to the king. Although his wife, an uninvited guest in the king's palace has much to fear; they face death. Esther understandably did not want to go, but it was God's will that she did. God didn't force her to go, push her fearful self into the king's court, but He changed her heart. After praying, she courageously went ahead, and the result - victory!

Jonah

After being given a command from God to go to Tarshish and preach, you'd imagine Jonah would tremble and do it! Instead he got on a ship to Nineveh and slept soundly in the lower deck during the disciplining storm. God didn't grab Jonah and put him in Tarshish and order him to preach. He used a fish to swallow him, and inside the fish is where Jonah repented until he himself was willing to go. The result - salvation for a broken people!

Paul

As Saul, he brutally killed many for following Christ. His passion was to persecute and execute Christians. Instead of rebuking him and forcing him to believe, God simply appeared to him as Jesus on that road to Damascus, in fact He blinded him by His appearance. After having his sight restored, Saul became Paul; he had a change of heart and longed to see many saved by the grace that he knew was real. His life was spent preaching the gospel, spreading it from nation to nation, people to people until his death, where he breathed his last as a content follower of the Lamb. Result - rapid spread of Christianity!

You see, none of these people initially wanted to do what God destined them to do. God used situations to change their heart and steer them in the direction of His will. Moreover, each person's experience is different, so is their destined purpose and the way God ushered them into it.

Friend, whatever life throws at you, take a moment to pray, asking God to show you His will and guide you to it...and be prepared to submit to it.

Random Chance? Think again!

'It happened by random chance!', these are the five words every science student can testify to hearing a zillion times! While these words initially evoked outrage within me, reading about Jacob's struggle with Laban extinguished the flames.

From Genesis 29 to chapter 31 we see Jacob's struggle with his father-in-law in order to obtain his rightful wages. Laban, who had already deceived Jacob numerous times, tries to do so again, suggesting Jacob take the speckled, streaked and spotted animals of the flock as his wages. Remarkably however, we see that immediately many of the 'normal' animals began mating with the already streaked, spotted or speckled, producing a far greater proportion that would belong to Jacob!

Mating happens by random chance and so it did in this case; but later on God reveals to Jacob that He was indeed behind it. God working through what we perceive to be random chance! What a baffling thought!

It doesn't stop with Jacob.
Jonah ran away from his God-given duty by hiding in the lower deck of the ship to Tarshish. Nature, by 'chance' was very unkind to the men as they faced a violent, raging storm. In order to identify the culprit who was behind such misfortune, the men cast lots and by 'random chance' it fell on Jonah! Really, 'random chance'? No, we see God's hand at work again.

Proverbs 16:33 confirms this by saying, 'A thing may be put to the decision of chance, but it comes about through the LORD.' In addition, the Bible is filled with ample evidence pointing to a God who mysteriously executes His purposes with probabilities.

Random chance isn't that random after all!

I've learnt to consider not 'whether life arose by random chance' but that I serve a God so mighty and incomprehensible that He is in control of randomness and chance. It does make sense! Who are we to confine God to our boundaries of time and space anyway...remember He was behind those too! 

Embrace Your Inner Catholic

'Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel' - Isaiah 7:14

The 'Virgin Birth' - perhaps one of the most fundamental, debated, unfathomable doctrinal strands of Christianity that does not cease to amaze, confuse and intellectually challenge individuals.

While there are many conspiracy theories around seeking to explain this mind boggling phenomenon, it is vital as Christians that we understand the significance of the virgin birth and the reality of it.

'Immanuel' - God with us

This very name from Isaiah's prophecy indicates the incarnation of God in human flesh, implying that Jesus was 'fully God' and 'fully human'. I'm not sure about you but this alone is enough to confuse my incompetent brain!

Jesus as Lord and Savior

Salvation pivots on ackowledging Jesus as not only our Savior (someone who died in our place to set us free) but as our Lord (one who is in-charge of and holds our lives). His divinity makes all the difference; if Jesus was not divine, we believe in vain! 

For Jesus to be 'divine', He had to be born of a virgin, but why?

Normal Birth = Normal Human Being 

Hence Jesus' life and teaching would have been the result of the Holy Spirit working in Him. This makes Him no different to the prophets, whom God used as instruments through His Holy Spirit.

Cutting Adam's line

Romans 5:12-21 reminds us that sin is an innate quality in every human, it is written in our genes (so to speak). This natural inclination to sin needs to be broken in order for us to be saved, as we will view God's law with a renewed reverence.

If Jesus was a part of Adam's line, i.e. had earthly parents, he too would have this predisposition, hence His sinfulness would have resulted in an insufficient sacrifice. However, Jesus was God incarnate, conceived by the Holy Spirit, He lived a sinless life and presented Himself as the Lamb without blemish at the altar - a sacrifice plentiful for the human race!

Prophecy fulfilled

Finally, in case you did not notice, the verse at the beginning of this post is from Isaiah, a prophet who lived around 700BC. The prophecies about the Messiah had to correlate with the birth, life, death and ressurection of Jesus.

Yes, it is a far fetched concept that is out of the ordinary, but is God ordinary? 

Yes, it is scientifically impossible, but is God bound by the laws of science, space or time?

NO and NO!

We serve an almighty God, the Maker of heaven and earth, when He could breathe this cosmos into existence ex nihilo, what stops Him from causing a virgin to bear child? Nothing! God is a God of miracles.

The virgin birth is not a basis for salvation but it is a Biblical truth we ought to embrace. As a Vicar at Christian Union illuminated this truth, he also mentioned how unlike Catholics, Evangelicals often ignore, hence devalue this miraculous event, robbing it of its due splendour. Thus I invite you to join me in searching for, finding and embracing that inner Catholic in you, that holds dear this illogical, rationally challenging concept with chains of faith!

Big Ben's Desperate Chimes

The Big Ben is the Great Clock Tower of Westminster in London; it is the largest four-faced chimming clock in the world and the third-tallest free standing clock tower. Not only is this structure one of magnificent beauty, but its familiar chimes resonate through flesh and bone evoking awe. Little did I know that its chimes were in fact a clamarous call to Londoners to turn back to their Maker!

The melody is traditionally thought to have been taken from one of my favourite classical oratorios, Handel's Messiah. The lyrics that correspond with the melody are also inscribed on a plaque in the Big Ben clock room and are as follows:

All through this hour,

Lord, be my guide;

And by Thy power,

No foot shall slide.
 

I am enthralled by tradition; I love digging deeper into the significance of ceremonies, hence to me these lyrics are no coincidence but are purposeful. The Big Ben was part of a new design to reconstruct the ruins of the old Palace of Westminster after a fire. These words to me seem rather apt, pleading God for His power and guidance through the fire, to remain unharmed.

What a prayer! A good reminder that we need God's guidance in every area of our life, every hour. Not only to help us in times of trouble but also to equip us to steer clear of temptations. Today, the Big Ben chimes every day, every hour to the melody of those same words, but only to be ignored by the ears of the millions that hear it each day. I can imagine its frustrations as it desparately tries to get the message across to a generation and society that is in need of it. Sadly, they are also ignored by the Members of Parliament who have chosen to reject God's guidance in the laws, values and principles they enforce or advocate!

The next time we hear the desperate chimes of the old Big Ben, may we remember to seek God's guidance, the only One who can keep our feet from stumbling. May the Big Ben not chime in vain!

Don't lose that 'First Love'

Recently, it dawned on me that my faith flame had been dimming for quite a while. Having had one of the hardest years spiritually, it was no surprise to me that my relationship with God felt far from passionate - it was empty religiosity and dutiful worship that consumed my time rather than the awe-struck wonder with which I used to gaze at the Cross. I realised that I lost my 'First Love' - I was letting myself grow out of love for the Savior. Some thing had to be done, fast!

When married couples complain about growing out of love, what do they mean?

The fire or passion with which they loved each other initially, dimmed - it did not die, but the 'dimming' felt like 'death'.

While our relationship with the Savior is similar, it differs in one way - God never stops loving us with the passion with which He loved us first; the love that brought Him to earth and took Him to the Cross is an unfathomable, unchanging, ever-exuberant love. If friction develops in our relationship with Him, we alone are to blame!

In moments such as this, one can choose to give up assuming the love is dead or, one can choose to make an effort to reignite the passion that once robbed their heart. I am glad that I chose the latter!

God understands that often we can be a Martha - busily trying to serve the Lord 'correctly' and forget to remain at His feet. Thankfully, He gives us the remedy in Revelation 2:1-7.

The Ephesian Church the apostle John was writing to, faced pretty much the same problem. They worked hard for the progression of the Gospel and to eliminate false teachers, they ensured their lives were embellished with good deeds, they persevered through trials and were even intolerant to sin. While this sounds like the resume of the 'perfect Christian' (if there ever could be one!), God said, 'Yet I hold this against you, you have forsaken your first love.' This implies that it doesn't matter what we do but why we do it; it doesn't matter how we start but how we finish.

God's two-step solution soon follows, 'Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.'

1. Reflection
Take some time to pause, think and make a note of what you did and how you did it at the start of your journey with the Saviour.
For me this meant things like longer quiet times, reading more Christian literature, praying often, enthusiastically evangelising (not with fear or out of compulsion).etc.
It's not that I had stopped doing the things above, but somehow now it felt like A LOT of effort. I started off doing them because I wanted to but ended up doing them because I had to!

2. Repent and do the things you did at first
What does He mean? It took me a while to realise that this command consists of two parts...
'Repent' - this is at the heart level. We need to place God at the centre of our lives again, this can only be achieved through confession and prayer.
'...and do the things you did at first' - If we truly repent, this will automatically follow! You'll effortlessly want to delve deeper in love with the Saviour, hence serve Him wholeheartedly!

Losing our 'first love' is equivalent to letting ourselves be overcome by apathy. If you find yourself in such a position, I plead you to give it your all to get that love back. Reading the passage in Revelation shows us that this loss comes with a repercussion - God warns the Ephesian Church that their lampstand will be taken away, meaning they will eventually burn out of faith and no longer be lit for the Saviour. What a shame that would be after a wonderful start, knowing what the Saviour did and yet be doomed for all eternity! However, take heart, for if we overcome this apathy, He promises that we shall partake in what is rightfully ours through His blood.

Don't lose that first love!