A Desire to Kill.

Samantha wanted a teddy. There was this small brown one that she had been eyeing for days! She asked her parents but they didn’t give her a response. A few more days went by before she placed this request again. This time also, her parents were busy. In her restless waiting and her relentless desire, she decided that she was done. It was time to take matter into her own hands! She went to the store and enquired about the price. “$15”, the shopkeeper said. Hopeful, she went back home to open her piggy bank. “1…2…3.. That’s a total of $1 and 24 cents!”, she declared. Determined, she started helping out around the house and even opened a lemonade stand to help her get the money. The only thought that was running through her mind was, ‘I want that brown teddy’.

A few days went by and she still didn’t have the money for the toy. Over a week, she managed to make two extra bucks and a few cents. She even gave up on ice cream to save some quarters. She had collected $5 and 12 cents. Hopeful, she went into the store to buy her teddy. The shopkeeper who had seen this girl before, politely told her that she could not afford the bear she came in for, however, there were other toys she could get for $5. Upset, she went back home. The little thing cried herself to sleep.

Soon she woke up to a gentle, yet familiar nudge. As she opened her eyes, she saw the teddy she had been longing for. ‘Surely this must be a dream’, she thought. But she saw then, her parents handing her a big, brown tear with beady eyes, a shiny nose and a big, red bow! Suddenly, her efforts didn’t seem futile and her joy knew no bounds. Seeing her constant and persistent efforts, her parents bought her the best teddy bear that the store had to offer! Although it was expensive, they knew that their daughter deserved every bit of it.

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We all have a wonderful, provident Heavenly Father who know our every need before we ask Him. He knows the perfect gift, the perfect time, the perfect place and the perfect situation to present it to us. Very often, we get caught up in our desires for what we believe is the best, that we fail to wait on the Father. The Father, who knows best, waits for us to kill our desires to be able to prepare ourselves better for His present. He never gives us anything unless we are ready to accept His will first. But first, we need to be be dead to our desires and patiently wait on Him.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us..

-Ephesians 3:20

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

God’s Delay is not Denial

We live in a society where we want our requests to be granted in an instant. Social media and societal influences affect our lives, even if we don’t know it is. In this era of Instagram and instant noodles, sometimes we find ourselves expecting our prayers to be instantly answered on-demand as well.

We pray and pray for the deepest desires of our heart – for a promotion, or a new job, or for recovery from illness, for a life partner, for anything – and when it doesn’t happen in the time frame we want it to, or society expects it to, we tend to lose hope in God.

When my sister and I ask our parents for things or permission to do something, they either answer with a YES or a NO. Regardless of whatever their answer is, they would always tell us to accept it equally. NO may not be the answer we wanted to hear, but it was still an answer and the final verdict we had to follow, and we had to accept is as easily as we would have a YES.

I like to believe that God has two answers : YES, or WAIT, BECAUSE I HAVE SOMETHING BETTER PLANNED FOR YOU.

Patience and trust can be a tiring ordeal. Many times, this ‘waiting time’ feels like ‘wasting time’, but God makes us wait for a reason, and he allows opportunities and blessings to happen in His timing.

It reminds me of when Martha and Mary asked for Jesus when Lazarus fell seriously ill. Perhaps they looked about anxiously for signs of His arrival. Perhaps with every knock on the door and the sound of shuffling feet outside their home, they thought it might be Jesus finally appearing to save their brother.

But Jesus didn’t come.

The funeral service had been over for 4 days when Jesus finally came to town.

I appreciate Martha for how human she was, how honest and blunt she was for telling it like it is when she told Jesus “If You had been here, my brother would not have died.” This is a natural response. Even I would have been this upset and mad if the only person who I knew could have saved him waltzed into the scene when it was way too late.

While her initial doubt was much like mine, the faith and certainty that followed it was unlike me.

When she said “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You”, I wonder what she expected at this point. I mean, her brother had been dead for 4 days after all, what did she expect would happen now?

And yet, with just a word from Jesus, Lazarus’ spirit returned to his body, and he opened his eyes, almost as if he’d just woken up from a deep sleep!

Jesus had bypassed the simple healing of His sick friend in order to perform the far greater miracle of bringing him back to life!

Similarly, when Mordecai uncovered an assassination plot on King Xerxes, the King’s life was saved, but Mordecai was forgotten. His only reward was that his name was recorded in the King’s chronicles.

Later in the story, when Mordecai was to be executed due to the conspiracy plotted by the King’s wicked official, Haman, God decided that Mordecai’s delay was now over. As a result, the King ended up preparing a handsome reward for Mordecai and chose Haman to do the honors and parade him around town, letting everyone know who Mordecai was and what he had done!

Waiting for God’s timing may also give us a greater miracle than we had hoped for.

I read somewhere that the bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants we know of. At first, they appear quite slothful. The bamboo is part of the grass family and doesn’t have any branches, so depending upon the soil and the climate, it emerges very slowly. While there is seemingly no progress above ground, its unique multi-tiered root system is forming taking hold and strengthening its foundation below the ground. And once the roots are ready, some species of bamboo are known to surge upwards as fast as 39 inches in 24 hours!

It is no wonder they are called bamboo ‘shoots’, for the way they suddenly shoot up towards the sky!

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

-Romans 8:28

If You Love it, Set it Free..

There is a very famous and overly-used statement in the English language, “If you love it, set it free. If it comes back, then it is meant to be“. The reason I call it over-used is because we seem to use that when it comes to our earthly relationships, but we tend to abuse it when it comes to our divine relationship with God. How often do we let go of God and then come back to Him? How often do to we fall back in the same pattern of getting hurt and hurting, arriving and leaving? Through the various ups and downs, through all the going and coming, there is one thing that is certain – it is easier to let go than to hold on, but we tend to let go of the right ones and hold on to the wrong.

Letting go is a divine act of  Man. Acceptance is a divine act of  God. 

No matter how many times we fall astray or let go of God, He still sets us free, relying that one day we will realise the quality of His love for us and come running back to Him. He lets us leave every time we decide to, but He doesn’t let go of us. He gives us the freedom of making our own choices when we decide to go, He tries to stop us but never forces us. His love is so abundant, so gracious that it accepts every single one of our flaws and loves us the same – as if nothing happened.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength, and love your neighbour as yourself.”

-Luke 10:27

Let us consider the story of the good Samaritan here. The priest and the Levite saw the wounded man and simply let go of him and moved on, going about their business. But the Samaritan looked at this man with pity and accepted him as one of his own. Nursed his wounds, took him to the closest inn where he paid the innkeeper to look after the man. He even agreed to bare the additional expense of this man’s recovery.
Here is a fine example of letting go and accepting. If the Samaritan didn’t let go of his pride and accept this man as his own brother, he would’ve surely perished!

Like St. Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless unless they find their rest in you.” That is the state we, as humans, are constantly battling. Our restless hearts are always looking for attachments, looking for connections but none of them last. Simply because we were not meant for this world. Even if this world tells you a million times that you belong, just one whisper from the Lord will make you realise that you don’t. You were made for something greater, nothing short of extravagant. So every time you find yourself out in the world losing a battle, and straying far away from home, fear not! We have a God who doesn’t let go of us even when we think we are too far gone. Just remember to look for Him and you will find Him holding on to you as if His life depended on it!

What a friend we have in Jesus!

The God-Dependence!

God is faithful in the little things; provident in the big. But how often do we fall back to rely on this abundant providence? 

Sean and Lynette have been together for as long as anyone can remember. They met as kids when the lived in the same neighbourhood, went to school together. Even the long distance at college couldn’t separate them! Soon enough they got engaged but that is when things slowly started to change. They got jobs in different cities. God knows how much they needed it, so they decided to put off their wedding for a year. It began with missing calls, then missing their weekend dates and even their Skype dates. But they were committed to their relationship. Their dates always began with a prayer and they continued to pray for each other even when their relationship was on the rocks. They were faithful in the little things. Soon enough Lynette got a transfer and moved to the same city as Sean and they got married.

Today, as they look back at all their trials, they can only see God’s faithfulness through the years.

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Ashley was a bright little girl. Always first in her class, regular to church and even spent her time helping out the lesser fortunate. Every time she had a problem, she looked to God. Sometimes her patience would get the better of her but that didn’t mean she gave up on God. After she graduated from college, she was without a job for a year. During that time, her grandmother passed away and her father fell seriously ill. She could barely support herself when she was expected to support her younger siblings. The God she trusted suddenly went missing, but she never gave up on her prayers. Even when the situation got bad, she trusted and followed God. Even when her heart was not in it, she prayed. Even when the pain and struggle got worse, she prayed.

In due time, God acted and her troubles vanished as quickly as they appeared. Her life was a vineyard of blessings and everyday she witnessed a new miracle. Her faithfulness was the blueprint of God’s providence in her life!

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“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

-Philippians 4:19

I love the confidence with which St. Paul states that verse. It is true that God is a multi billion-billion-gazillionaire! He can give us anything and everything we ask for, if it falls in line with His plan for us. God’s providence is directly proportional to the amount of dependence you have on Him. If you rely on the Maker for just the big things, you miss the opportunity to practice your faith in the little things. Like the little drops of water make the mighty ocean, you dependence on the little things is going to increase your faith in the mighty ones. So before you decide to walk on water, learn to jump in the boat with Him so He was lead you in the way He has prepared. The destination is waiting for you, the choice of the journey is yours to make. Be dependent, choose God.