As I begin writing this article, I am not exactly in a
spiritual high or a faith level commended as the centurion, but on the
contrary, I have allowed several setbacks to weigh me down over the last couple
of weeks.
Nevertheless, I knew clearly what I must do: One to write
this article, and two to allow my Master to recalibrate everything in my heart,
mind, soul and spirit that has gone way off track.
As I was meditating on Luke chapter 13, there were three
points that the Holy Spirit birthed into my mind:
1) REPENT
The chapter starts with the key
topic of ‘repentance’. Twice in the first 5 verses Jesus spoke of
repentance. And I knew that prior to
anything else, any step further, I had to repent of indulging in the zone of
defeat and choosing to forsake my intimate relationship with God. It is not
whether trusting in God is easy or not; but it’s just – to TRUST. FULLSTOP.
“Lord, I surrender to you all my
disbelief and doubts in You – Your omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence. I
say unto You that I trust in You, that’s it. I choose to revel in Your love and
promises for me. May it be unto me as You have said. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
2) PERSEVERE –
HOLD ON TO FAITH IN GOD
It is difficult or perhaps impossible to have faith in
a God we do not know. But praise be to God who gave us His Word that we may
grow in knowledge of Christ. The next topic in Luke 13 that the Holy Spirit
revealed to me was about the Kingdom of God, in other words, the nature of God.
Verses 6 and 7 described exactly what I have been
going through, and that is: prayer sown and remain unanswered; effort sown
results naught. Why should I still keep this tree that bears no fruit?
Amazingly verses 8 and 9 reveal the heart of God. As
Jesus lives to intercede for you and I, He too desires us to prayer
unceasingly. And He is saying that He is the God who knows everything we are
enduring. He knows it ain’t easy. He knows and He cares. The best part is, He
will deliver His promises that He will answer our prayer – if we have been
praying in accordance to His will. At this point, we need to ask God if what we
have been praying for is in accordance to His will – check with His Word.
We have faith in this God who is unlike another. He
works in ways so different, sometime beyond logic. Verses 10 to 17 describes
about how Jesus ‘broke the Sabbath’ according to human logic. He healed a woman
on the Sabbath. He didn’t wait till after Sabbath. This is who our God is. He
doesn’t associate healing us, helping us, restoring us as work. Rather, He
associates that with LOVE. This is my God and what is it in Him that I can’t
have faith in?
Verses 18 to 21 speaks of the Kingdom of God. To seek
God’s Kingdom isn’t just about doing His Work. It is not so much of the doing.
It is the condition of our heart and mind – the understanding of the His
Kingdom. His Kingdom is BIG, yes it is. But oftentimes, as how He uses the
ordinary to perform the extraordinary, somehow it seems so ordinary and we
subtly forget about it when we put it side by side the world. However, that ordinary
has an amazing influence and power when we understand that a thought in God’s
mind is more than enough to bring about a HUGE miracle. Think about the mustard
seed and yeast… Small and insignificant things… Yet it brings about such great
impact to the ‘birds’ and ‘the large amount of flour’.
“Lord, You are the Great I am. Nothing is beyond You.
Nothing is out of You.”
3) SHIFT MY
FOCUS TO ETERNAL TREASURES
Earlier today, my dad said about another, “Where your
heart is, there your treasure is.” Though he implied it for another, it pierced
my heart. I have been sowing prayers about the people God placed in my heart
and even been sowing much effort at work, yet when the results remain naught, I
wonder: why?
But no, why isn’t the crux. My focus was on the wrong
things. I looked at the people I was praying for and the results of my effort
at my workplace. I realized suddenly I had lost my focus.
The remaining verses speak of salvation, heaven and
hell. Indeed, those who are last will be first, and the first will be last. As
I am writing this, nothing outside of me has changed, in fact, things outside
of me accelerate as a fizzy mess. However, by God’s strength and grace, I can
remain unwavering. I am so close to having a complete recalibration of shifting
my focus to eternal treasures…
All of a sudden, nothing matters as much as awaiting
for Christ to come back for me. And being in His dwelling place forever and
ever. Yet, I hold on to His Word that though I sow in tears, I shall reap with
joy – in eternity. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord (verse 35).
“Lord, I await You return. Thank You that You have
prepared a beautiful place for me in heaven, where there’s no tears, no strife,
no pain. In my short life on earth, may You accomplish all that You will for me
and through me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
Got it? Or, rather, done it?
