Thoughts for another day

December 19, 2008.

Today's verse: Gal. 5:1. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. (KJV)
(Pls. read the above before you read further. Thanks)

Why is there suffering; why is there pain…who shall I ask, who will explain. This could probably be the epitaph on the hearts of most people because we see so much suffering and pain and hatred in the world and the question that’s foremost on my mind is WHY? The Word of God says, “we are more than conquers thro Him who loved us”, now what sort of conquering have we done when we live such miserable lives.

You know my friend, day in and day out, I hear dismal things from so called Christians and I wonder, are they really Christian. Superstitions, talismans, fears of the unknown, anxiety that could ‘unroot’ the strongest trees, etc. all belong to the character of strong believers. It is so unreal yet the irony is, it’s real. And I guess the reason for all this is in the latter part of the verse we have for today.

While we claim we lean on the Lord, our lives also depend on other things, particularly other people. We have many expectations and if we’re let down, we feel bad and sad. I have realised the reason for most of my woes is that I don’t focus on the life Jesus has laid out for me with its ups and downs. I’m okay with the ups but get dejected with the downs unlike Job who tells his wife, ‘We accept good things from God and shouldn’t we accept evil?’ You see, the evil per se isn’t evil if it is taken as a gift from God, because remember, God can bring good out of evil and He’ll do it for us if we accept it humbly and as something He has a purpose for us in.

This is the liberty that Christ gives, in and through His Own miserable death, that God brings out the best in us through trials and even while it’s on, our peace never dims and in the most raging storms, we’re fast asleep! We need remember our liberty comes from One who’s faced the storms just like any of us and who knows that it can be faced squarely and firmly and come out unscathed nay, victorious.