‘Not My Will…’

Hello All,

We see children crying and throwing tantrums whenever they do not get their way.

Being an aunt to my dearly beloved one-year-old niece, Bethany, I am a witness to her many unhappy moments whenever her desires are denied. Being a doting aunt, I tend to spoil her and give in to her whims and fancies.

I thank God that my mum is not like me and she knows what is good for Bethany. She withholds certain objects of desires that she knows would not be good for my little niece in the long run. And she does so out of her love for the little girl.

Adults are not very different from children in this respect. The only difference is that we have acquired sophisticated ways of masking our desires that may have even become demands.

‘Not My Will…’

By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling

His sweat was like drops of blood

They trickled down to the ground

His anguish gushed like a flood

In prayer, renewed strength He found

‘Take this cup of wrath from me’

He pleaded with the Father

It was in Gethsemane

Where He prayed this painful prayer

The bitter cup He dreaded

The cup of intense suffering

So, with the Lord, He pleaded

With doleful tears and trembling

‘Not my will but Yours be done’

He prayed in pure submission

Though anguished, the Holy One

Endured great tribulation

He made His way to the Cross

He obeyed His dear Father

He suffered to save the lost

Such love was shown like no other

Do we obey the Father?

Like the pure and Holy One?

Do we tell God in our prayer:

‘Not my will but Yours be done’?

Do we pray in submission?

Or do we cling too tightly

To dreams and aspirations?

Do we trust the Almighty?

We have our crosses to bear

But Christ has gone before us

We’re under His loving care

Follow the steps of Jesus

Points for Reflection:

“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

(Luke 22:42 ESV)

·       Has God been withholding someone or something from you?

·       Does your heart ache with unfulfilled desires and dreams?

·       Do you feel upset with God for not answering your prayers?

·       Are you willing to pray in faith but at the same time submit your desires to God?

·       Like Jesus, are you willing to tell God, ‘Yet not my will but Yours be done’?

·       Are you grateful for what Christ has done for us on the cross? Have desires for other things overshadowed the greatest blessing that we have received as God’s beloved children?

·       We have our crosses to bear, but Christ has gone before us. We’re under His loving care, so follow the steps of Jesus.

A Time for Everything

For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.

(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ESV)

A Time for Everything

By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling

For everything, there is a season

A time for everything under heaven

Nothing happens randomly or by chance

God has determined each step in a dance

The events of life unfold rapidly

Against the backdrop of eternity

There is more beyond life under the sun

This race of life should not be blindly run

God has allotted time in His wisdom

Seasons have been set; nothing is random

Amidst the chaos, He is in control

He knows all things; He's sealed them in His scroll

When difficult situations are tense

When painful circumstances make no sense

When we're let down by life under the sun

Look to the Cross and follow Christ, the Son

Through Christ, God has made all things beautiful

Because of Christ, this life is meaningful

He's redeemed us from vain futility

From sin and death, He has set us free

Though life's poetry does not perfectly rhyme

God makes all things beautiful in His time

When life's ugly trials and problems arise

Help us, Lord, to see beauty through Your eyes

  

Points for Reflection:

For everything, there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven

(Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV)

·       Amidst the chaos and mess in our world and in our own lives, do you at times wonder if God is in control? Are you discouraged when things just don’t seem to fall into place and nothing seems to work?

·       In His wisdom, He has put all events and phenomena in place. Nothing happens out of His sovereign plan. He makes all things beautiful in His time.

·       We may not understand the pain and suffering we witness in our world and in our lives. Many raise their fists in anger against God for the injustices and evil in our world. What strikes me is their refusal to thank God for the goodness, order, and beauty that remain in our world today.

·       God created a beautiful and perfect world and he placed humans to rule the world under Him. However, humanity chose to rebel against God and reject His rule over their lives. We want to rule our lives and our world our own way. Looking at the mess around us, I will have to admit that we have done a terrible job at ruling the world.

·       Are there areas in your life that you are struggling to submit to God’s loving rulership?

·       And yet, God uses evil for good. This can be seen most evidently in the Cross. Evil men condemned Jesus Christ to an excruciating death on the Cross. His disciples and those who followed Him were dismayed and distraught at His death. It looked as if all hope was gone. But God raised Jesus from the dead and their hope was revived and renewed. Because of Jesus’s death and resurrection, sinners who trust in Christ are free from God’s judgment for sin. Our future hope is brighter than the sun. We can look forward to spending an eternity of bliss in heaven with God, our Creator, and our King.

·       How have you seen God using the evil and unpleasant circumstances in your life for good? Has He been using trials and suffering to build your character and depend more on Him?

Possibilities

Hello All,

Possibilities are exhilarating but also scary.

It is scary because we fear the possible disappointments that follow failed expectations.

Because of this fear, we suppress our hopes for possibilities.

Possibilities

By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling

My mind is bubbling

with possibilities

My heart is singing

of dreams and fantasies

Should we stop hoping

for possibilities?

Should we stop filling

our days with reveries?

I will keep praying

for possibilities

It's God's will and timing

He knows what's good for me

Points for Reflection:

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

(Proverbs 19:21 ESV)

·       Many of us have an all-or-nothing mindset. We swing between holding on too tightly to our dreams and expectations and refusing to hope because of unmet expectations in the past.

·       Is there a middle ground that we can stand on?

·       We have very little and often no control over our future. Things often do not go the way we envision them to.

·       Are we willing to commit our hopes for possibilities to God despite the outcome?

·       Are we confident that God knows what is good for us?

·       God may even use broken dreams and unmet expectations to reveal the hidden idols in our hearts.

·       The greatest blessing that we have is the restored relationship between God and sinners like us who were once His enemies. That restored relationship came at an infinitely high cost – the blood of Jesus Christ.

·       Possibilities are uncertain and clinging on too tightly to the hope of actualised possibilities leads to disappointment and despair. But at the same time, refusing to hope out of fear of unmet expectations puts our hearts in a stifling cage. We are meant to dream big dreams for God’s kingdom.

·       As children of God, we have a certain, future hope in Christ. When all else fails, God doesn’t.

Lessons Learnt from Frailty

Hello All,

I have been recovering from a chest infection that lasted for almost a month.

The most difficult part for me was not the discomfort (although it was highly undesirable), but losing my voice. I love singing and it was just impossible to sing well with a hoarse voice.

Apart from the wide variety of medication I was consuming, I tried every possible home remedies (e.g. honey, warm salt water, lemon juice) I could think of to restore my voice. I was desperate to recover what I had lost.

I am so thankful to God that I am much better now and almost recovered. My voice has returned although phlegm and coughing often get in the way.

I have learnt many lessons through frailty.

Lessons Learnt from Frailty

By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling

The frailty of my body reminds me

Of my weaknesses and mortality

It reminds me of my limitations

Of my dependence on God's provision

When ailments take my voice away from me

When my hoarse voice can't sing of Your glory

My heart lifts up to You a silent song

It's You who's helped me sing all along

The frailty of my body reminds me

Of Your strength and immortality

One day, You will make all broken things new

Restore this world with the freshness of dew

In Jesus, we are a new creation

We're citizens of a holy nation

Though we're not perfected, let's fix our eyes

On our true heavenly home in the sky

Points for Reflection:

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

(2 Corinthians 4:16 ESV)

·       I realised that my voice and everything I own come from God.

·       It is so tempting at times to stake our claim on our intellect, talents and other possessions and we unconsciously take pride in them. Little do we realise that what we own can be easily snatched away from us through sicknesses, natural disasters, and forces beyond our control.

·       We live in a fallen world that is decaying. But God will renew this world when Jesus Christ returns.

·       For those who trust in Him, we are a new creation in Him. Though our physical bodies are wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

·       The Gospel gives us hope when ailments and misfortune strike. We know that through it all, God is in control of all things and we can rest in Him.

Wounds and Love

Hello All,

Have you been wounded by someone’s words and actions?

Are there wounds that have left scars in your heart and some that are still bleeding?

  

Wounds and Love

By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling

Dedicated to a dear friend for inspiring the poem

Are there wounds that run too deep?

Would those wounds completely heal?

Your courage you try to keep

Your bleeding wounds you conceal

You've opened your heart to love

But your heart keeps getting hurt

'Should I hide my heart in a glove?'

'Why invest my heart and effort?'

'Should I protect my heart with walls?'

'Keep myself safe from great pain?'

Suffering came after the Fall

We get hurt again and again

Christ opened His heart to us

We've spurned Him again and again

His love was deep and courageous

On the cross, He bore our pain

It's the cross that gives us courage

To break down our protective walls

To free our hearts from their cage

God's love causes walls to fall

God's love invigorates our hearts

We love others with His love

It is God's love we impart

Divine love that comes from above

I may hurt you; you may hurt me

But I'll still love you, my friend

God's love resides within me

A love that knows no time and end

Points for Reflection:

We love because God first loved us.

(1 John 4:19 ESV)

·       Opening your heart to someone – a spouse, family member, or friend – requires courage. Doing so may have left you wounded and afraid to open your heart to anyone again. ‘Never again!’ are the words that many have sworn to themselves.

·       If you can feel the intensity of the pain that reeks from the wounds in your heart, have you ever thought of the pain that Christ endured out of His love for sinners who spurned Him and spat on Him with contempt? Sinners like us who continually reject Him as the Lord of our lives. Sinners who seek ultimate satisfaction in someone or something else instead of in Him.

·       But the cross gives us the courage to break down our protective walls and free our hearts from their cage. God's love causes walls between us to fall. The cross gives us the courage to open our hearts and be vulnerable with others.

·       Opening our hearts to other sinners hurts. We hurt others and others hurt us because we are unable to love perfectly. But God loves us perfectly. And even if the whole world turns against us, we know that His love stands true.

·       We love others because He first loved us.