The Waves.

When was the last time you visited the beach?

Well I am taking you back there now; remember the hot windy air on your face, or the cool night breeze, the sound of the waves crashing in intervals that you can’t really predict. Imagine yourself sitting on the shore, looking at the never ending building and crashing of waves, receding and crashing over and over again. The tireless cycle. Now you are lost in thought, thinking of absolutely nothing but the beauty of the waves in front of you. How refreshing was that?

Every time I visit the beach, the waters give me a new perspective on life. My last visit was the most fun-filled experience in my life and yet a very educative one too. It left a learning in my life that I still haven’t forgotten. Playing in the water, I lost my glasses. And I, not predicting an event like that to occur, hadn’t carried an extra pair. I was literally blind for the next twenty four hours.

This taught me to put set of spare glasses anywhere and everywhere I go, not only because I may lose it, but also because I learnt how temporary everything really is.

We think right now that losing that wallet or those pair of glasses is the biggest problem of the day, but it doesn’t really matter in the bigger picture because God is in control. I didn’t get lost when I didn’t have my glasses, but I learned how to let go of the fear of the unknown. It wasn’t a major step but a small start to a big step.

TRUST is a five letter word that holds so much in it. But that is indeed a step closer to not being worried of what goes by and anxious about what is to come next. For it says “ The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do.” Psalm 118:6.

Fear is a liar. If God is there with me, whom should I fear?

Faith that Walks on Water

“Hold my hand and just climb up”, said the man to the girl in the pit.

She couldn’t trust him with her hand cause she had been betrayed before. How can she trust this man to actually help her out? What proof is there that he would stay till she’s rescued out? Who is this man? Why is he even interested in helping me out? Does he know anything about rescuing me? It’s a deep pit, can he even handle my weight?

Those were the thoughts in Susie’s mind during her therapy sessions that she took during her period of depression. She was far from God, trying everything worldly to help her sleep and to help her out of this deep pit she was in.

She did not let her therapist help her a bit because she knew for sure that he wouldn’t be there when she woke up crying the next morning.

Little did she hear the voice of her Father calling out to her to hold His hand. Her thoughts were clouded with all the pills she was taking and she couldn’t hear it, even if she tried. There was just too much noise in her head.

Are you like Susie?

Are all the noises of this world not letting you hear the voice of your Father, your Creator? He has been there by your side throughout – when you chose the world against Him, when you sought out help from everyone else other than Him, even at your darkest night when you called for help from everyone else except Him.

He was there.

He’s not angry with you. He is not upset. He is standing there still, ready to help. He is saying “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”(1 Peter 5:7). You don’t have to carry it all around. You can rest now. He says “Come to me all those who are heavy laden for I will give you rest”

He knows it’s hard and all He’s asking is one step from you. He’s stretching His hand out, are you ready to take it?

Expiration Date

While shopping, don’t we look for expiration dates? While buying perishable goods, the obvious answer is yes. So we look for something that was produced closer to the date of purchase and so that the product has a longer shelf life.

But do we knowingly or unknowingly put an expiry date on our prayers to God?

You see, it is very easy to lose hope when we have been earnestly praying for something for so long and we do not know whether the answer is a definite “Yes” or “No”, and since it hasn’t been answered for so long we tend to assume it’s a wait and after a while we feel that the prayer might not have reached up to heaven at all. Those are the times we are tempted to take things into our hand and do something about it.

It is a very difficult situation to go through.

Even so while baking bread there is a perfect temperature at which the baker removes it. If it’s removed a bit early, it tastes raw and a bit later, then the bread becomes hard. The baker knows the exact time that the bread must be removed for it to be perfect.

Similarly with God, He knows the exact time to answer our prayers too. He is never too early nor too late. God knows the exact time and what we must go through before He answers our prayers so that we are ready and prepared to enjoy God’s gift.

For if we did not know know the dry deserts, would we have known the value of green land. And if not for the valleys, how would we have known how high the mountains are.

“From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” – Psalm 61:2

Conditional promising

“If you get this done in five days, consider yourself promoted”

“If you do this well you would get a performance award”

“If you pass this exam with good marks, you would get your first bike”

Familiar with this?

Back at work we had this function in excel that worked with a “IF” dialogue and it was pretty useful given the conditions were correct and then breaking down huge spreadsheets was very simple.

Conditional promising is not really a thing that is of the present or just invented by us, conditional promising existed from the Old Testament, God gave King Solomon both riches and wisdom because he asked for wisdom.

Are you and me still guilty of giving God “terms and conditions” for His will to be done in our lives.

Are you tired of being given conditions to work on?

We have a God who has never ending unfailing love unlike our love with “terms and conditions”, we have a God who sent His one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins and uses my downfalls for my betterment and carrying me all the way.

Why do I still carry around my past hurt and bruises like it happened just yesterday when I have a God who takes every stab for me, every hurt, always there to carry me and a light at my darkest night.

For my God loves me unconditionally, forgiving and forgetting my sins and not treating me as my sins deserve.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

For I have a Father up above who loves me so very much without any conditions and that’s what keeps me going.

And he is just waiting for you to call on Him. Would you?

Jonah Syndrome

Do I have a fear of failure ? Am I running away from my “Nineveh” ?

Ever faced a situation where you were talking to someone from a different faith and something inside you started telling you to talk about God and you tell yourself how ridiculous it would sound considering the circumstances? Well Jonah faced one like that.

The book of Jonah talks about the story of a prophet’s flight away from God’s will and how God stopped him and turned him around and even sent a fish to protect him.

But it’s actually a bigger story than of a man and a fish. It’s an amazing illustration of God’s mercy and grace that we see everyday in our lives. It’s the beautiful way that he leads us into His will in-spite of us running everyday, away from it.

God was merciful to him and Jonah was running on God’s grace. He was so gracefully protected by a fish sent by God that actually helped Him to have a closer intercession with God too.

God was merciful to Jonah and let him run on grace by protecting him through a fish that was sent by God, allowing him to come closer to God bringing him into greater intimacy and a closer intercession with God himself.

Do I have a Nineveh in front of me? It could be me. Am I running away from God?

We have a God who is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. No matter how harsh the waters are He just wants us to go to Him. We might feel like we are swallowed by a fish right now given the circumstances and the difficult situations around us but God really has a plan though all this.

If I was not put to a test, how else would I know that I could ace it.

Psalm 145:8- “The Lord is gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger and rich in love.”