A Message of Hope...please read with an open, humble heart

Yesterday I had one of my best on-calls. Few admissions, 1 OT case and no calls for me after 10 pm except for a short matter at 1230 am. In short, I slept for a long time at night and woke up feeling very refreshed. Then off to church I go and what a encouraging service it was!!

Although this church in Teluk Intan comprises only a handful of people (around 10 regular worshippers), there is an out-reach group coming from KL each month to inspire and inject some new vision into the group. We were blessed with this vibrant group driving all the way to minister to us and it was a fun service all the way. I learnt that I could actually understand and appreciate worship songs in Mandarin and was deeply engrossed in a Mandarin sermon. I guess that my grasp of my mother tongue is not as bad as I thought after all.

Then we learnt about bad attitudes and good attitudes in life. As we were talking about the demon-possessed man in Gerasenes and the way the people responded to Jesus after he has driven this ‘legion’ of demons from the man into the pigs, I began to ask myself whether I have the right or wrong attitudes in life. I realized that I have been developing a bad attitude towards a lot of things.

For once, just like the people there, I sometimes pass on news without verifying them. Each juicy piece of information about something else or someone else, I will discuss about it with my colleagues or friends. Although it is not malicious information most of the time, I feel that it’s tantamount to gossiping and that is a sin if we are not careful about how we embellish the truth. I know I must put a stop to this and if I truly wanna help the person involved, I should speak to them directly instead of jumping to conclusion all by myself.

Not only that, we seem to be ‘curious’ about ‘special’ events in other people’s lives, not because we are genuinely interested in them, but because we are so gleeful when we found out someone else has made a mistake or fell out of steps. This is so prevalent in our society as newspapers, magazines, books and Internet has glorified ‘paparazzi’ and certain journalists made their way into mainstream media. No wonder some of the famous names of our generation, people like Britney, Edison, Lindsay, Paris, etc seem to fall prey to mental illnesses or are in grave danger of doing so. Surely, the stress of the limelight and the predisposition of negative reporting about these famous people, highlighting all their shortfalls, put them into shame, depression and self-doubt deep down inside.

Then I learnt about the good attitudes in life. The man healed from the legion of demons was denied a chance to follow Jesus not because he is unworthy. On the contrary, Jesus wants to give the people of Decapolis a wonderful chance to know Him through the man’s testimony. He was humble and willing to accept a big “NO” from our Lord because God wants him to testify in a whole different area.

On the contrary, many of us servants of God feel so dejected when our plans were frustrated in any ways. We may begin to blame God for not letting us do “His will”. However, our world-view and grasp of time is different from God’s time-line. He sees a much bigger picture than what our human mind can imagine. God will only give us the best in life and it is up to us whether we want to trust Him or not.

Moreover, this man in Mark chapter 5:1-20 was declaring the people about His healing in a joyful and enthusiastic manner. He wasn’t afraid or worried about the response of others. In return, the Lord gave him a receptive audience, a group of people who was fertile soil to the seed of the Gospel. I begin to realize that I was too meek and worried about proclaiming the gospel all the while. I need to give people around me a chance to know God, an opportunity to trust in the eternal Hope, if their hearts are open.

People everywhere are tired of hearing all the bad news in the newspaper every day and nothing seem to satisfy their need. Money, property, fame, power, adulation, pleasure-these are the things that are never seem to be enough. Yet the one thing that never fails, that never fades and never dies..it is always more than enough. Jesus is always more than enough if only we would only give Him a chance to work fully (and not partially) in our lives and hearts so that we are whole-heartedly and holistically transformed into a new, powerful force for the Him.

Guess this message is different from my usual non-threatening, non-partisan, neutral style of blogging but I felt so moved by the Holy Spirit to deliver this piece of writing onto the cyberspace community. May you read this with an open heart, the right attitude and do remember that I am not imposing my believe systems onto others but merely declaring the goodness, hope and peace that I have found through the merciful God. God loves you no matter who you are and where you are from. As this is an interlude and different from the norm, I hope for constructive discussions and comments. Thanx for your patience!