Leave the Flaws but Count Your Blessings

Leave the Flaws but Count Your Blessings

Khen Lim

Image source: Trover

Ever been reading the news lately? If it’s not mass killings, it’s the hurricanes and the earthquakes. If it’s not either, it’ll be some other kinds of disasters. Right across the world, beginning with America and pretty much the whole of Europe (or should that be Eurabia?) moving to Africa and Asia including Australasia, it’s all nothing but terrible news. 

I won’t begin to have to list them here; I’m absolutely sure you can do that yourself. Suffice to say, you’d probably run out of space before you have exhausted all the possible bad news you can think of.

But it isn’t just the world beyond our front door that is so gloomy and unpromising. Many times, we have more gripes of our own to bog us down. We never seem to be happy enough. It’s always this or that and in the end, we’re all complaining that we don’t have enough money or enough time or enough of whatever it is that we crave so much of. 

We’re always wanting things we don’t have but we don’t look at the very things we already have. In short, we’re are a horribly ungrateful lot.

And then, there is that infernal thing called Regret. We may not admit it but we’re always regretting something in our lives, bemoaning whatever opportunities lost to us. 

Many times, we’d say things like “If only…” or “I wish…” or “What if…” and with all that, we keep looking over our shoulder and find plenty to whinge about. We want to be rich and we could’ve if we’d done this instead of that. We would’ve been hugely popular had we gone done that instead of doing the other thing. If we could go back in time and do things different, we’d be unimaginably powerful, famous and influential. 

Amidst all of that, the Bible reminds us what we really ought to be. Here’re some (bolding effect is mine):

In the Gospels, Jesus said to His disciples, “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves” (Mt 10:16, NLT).

In his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul wrote, “So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless” (1 Cor 15:58, NLT).

Then, there’s his letter to the church in Ephesus where Paul wrote, “…be kind to each other, tender hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you” (Eph 4:32, NLT) and then also, “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children” (5:1, NLT).

Jesus’ other disciple, His own brother James wrote in his letter to the Jewish Christians scattered abroad (Jm 1:1, NLT), “…don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves” (1:22, NLT).

The apostle Peter wrote in his letter to the various churches in Asia Minor who were suffering persecution, saying, “…now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy” (1 Pt 1:15, NLT).

And then, the apostle John wrote also, “Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life” (Rev 2:10, NLT)

In all of the above and many more in the Bible are exhortations of obedience to God, to do the things we are called to. These are what resonate us to a life that has no bearing on what the world is up to but in all of these (exhortations), the one that all of us should pay much closer attention to is in the last part of Colossians 3:15. Here it is:

“And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.” (NLT)

There you are – Always. Be. Thankful. 

In other words, be grateful. Be blessed. And know to count your blessings even amidst all the doom and gloom.

No matter how wretched we think our lives are, always be thankful. Even in the very midst of the worst possible news, always be thankful. Regardless of the trash we hear day in and out, always be thankful. And with all the shocking attitudes, political corruption and abominable human conduct… Always. Be. Thankful.

It’s when we’re not (thankful) or don’t reflect on our gratitude towards God, that we are not able to live life to the fullest. We can never be at our fullest potential where we become a real blessing to others. There’s something else I want to touch on. So let’s read Colossians 3:15 once again:

“And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.” (NLT)

Take note that this is not a suggestion. The phrase “you are called” tells us under no uncertain terms that this is a command from God. It is He who instructs us to do two things, namely, “to live in peace” and then to “always be thankful.” 

Thankful to who, you ask? Thankful to Him, of course, but we’re also thankful to and for other things that define our lives, those that have shaped us in the past, the present and those that are yet to come. But all of these are also the work of the Lord as well.

Being a command and not a suggestion indicates that it is an appeal to the will, meaning that being thankful is not due to circumstances but a decision we make to be so. We are thankful not because of certain things in life but because of our very existence. We make the decision to be thankful because it is in our nature to be so to the One who created us. We are simply exercising our obedience to count our blessings and not focus on our flaws.

In our thankfulness to God, we can view our blessings in four ways:

God blesses us through the people He sent to be part of our lives

Image source: lifewithgreatfriends.com

Think of all the people who have graced your lives and those who still do. Of course, depending on how old you are, you would have come across hundreds if not thousands of people who became friends and acquaintances with you. 

Some of them would have begun their friendships with you from early schooldays. Others might have been your neighbours when you were a kid. Some you met at Sunday School while others could have been family friends.

Of these many, some would become closer friends, sharing much in common with you. A few would end up being your best of the best friends and these are the ones defined by mutual camaraderie. They are the ones who’d back you up, who’d stand by you and who’d be there for you even in your darkest hours. 

When you think no one cares, these are the friends who’d make you think again because from them, you under the true value of being blessed.

There are also those whom through the journey of our careers and education, we meet. Those whom we share office space with, those whom we have business partnerships with as in associates and clients. Even from friendly competitors in the industry, we have opportunities to become friends in the long term. 

Even in prisons, wardens can become inspired by model prisoners who go on to be valued assets in society. In the reverse, there are prisoners who find respite and true friendship in the visiting prison chaplain. Similarly those who serve in the military find and become meaningful friends among fellow soldiers that can last a lifetime.

Let us also not forget the educators who taught us since small. From teachers in kindergarten to preparatory, then to high school and even lecturers and tutors that were part of our university life, they all played important roles in ensuring that we could read and write and then equipping us for society. 

Over the years as we grow up to become adults, we recognise and appreciate their place in our personal development. We might not see this when we were young but in time, we often do. All of these people offer us yet another perspective as to how we can be very blessed with those we come across in our academic and working lives.

Don’t forget those whom you’ve had differences with or those whom you parted friendships with. These invariably become invaluable lessons although we learn in a backhanded way. Though we tend to think we’re right and they’re wrong (as usual), reflection and humbleness of spirit do lead at least some of us to see the errors of our ways. 

And these in themselves are blessings from God because He’s availed us opportunities to be better people. Through these experiences, we also become spiritually richer and emotionally more matured. And from these mistakes, we can share with others as well.

In His remarks to His disciples about judging people, Jesus says:

“…why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye?” (Mt 7:3-4, NLT)

It is when conflict arises with the people God brings into our midst that we face life-shaping tests. These become trials that pave the way for us to come to terms with our own shortcomings. God uses people to bring lessons to teach us even when we aren’t aware. They may fleetingly come and go from our lives but in those little slivers of opportunity, God opens up precious ways for us to learn if only we stop and think instead of acting untowardly.

If there’s one very person who has been and continue to be a real blessing in our lives, it is Jesus for ultimately, God the Father sent us His Son so that He be the most purposeful blessing of them for all of humanity (Jn 3:16). 

Imagine God saying to His Son in heaven, “The time is fulfilled; I have pledged to bless and now is the time to deliver on My promise; You, My Son, will be My messenger of blessing; I want the world to be blessed; for I have so much to give, so go now and bless My people, bless them all; indeed, bless all the families of the earth through them. Bless them. Bless them.”

This imaginary narrative finds biblical perspective in Acts 3:25-26 (NLT). There it reads:

“You are the children of those prophets and you are included in the covenant God promised to your ancestors. For God said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendants, all the families on earth will be blessed.’ When God raised up His servant, Jesus, He sent Him first to you people of Israel, to bless you by turning each of you back from your sinful ways.”

Check out how God’s blessing is twice mentioned. We begin with verse 26 where God raises Jesus so that He be sent to bless the people of Israel, His people. Take note of what is said here: “He sent Him first to you people of Israel.” In other words, Israel was to be the first to receive His blessing and only thereafter are the blessings then for the rest. 

The people of Israel are His people and they are to be Jesus’ first blessings. However the word ‘first’ is used here to denote that after the people of Israel are blessed will come those of the Gentiles but in both cases, Jesus is sent by the Father to revert us away from our “sinful ways.” That is the real blessing.

The second of God’s blessing is in verse 25. Here, God talks about “the children of those prophets” and then comes the mentioning of “the covenant.” This passage reminds us very clearly that in His covenant with Abraham, which stretches to include his descendants – “all the families on earth” – God will bring forth His blessings. 

In defining the word ‘descendants,’ it is certainly not preposterous to include you and me. We are all part of mankind and in our humanity, God offers us His blessings, first for the Jews and then for all of us Gentiles.

Through Jesus, the Son of God, His blessings begun a little more than 2,000 years ago but they’re certainly still with us because to Him, His promise is as fresh as if it were two days ago, given that He views a thousand years as one day. 

These are refreshing blessings that are truly in abundance all around us if only we care enough to stop and feel it. In all of this, just as others in our lives become a blessing to us, we are also to be the same to others.

Proverbs 11:25-31 (MSG*) offers us a good and stout reminder of this:

“The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed;

those who help others are helped.

Curses on those who drive a hard bargain!

Blessings on all who play fair and square!

The one who seeks good finds delight;

the student of evil becomes evil.

A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump;

a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.

Exploit or abuse your family;

and end up with a fistful of air;

common sense tells you it’s a stupid way to life.

A good life is a fruit-bearing tree;

a violent life destroys soul.

If good people barely make it,

what’s in store for the bad!”

* The Message Bible

Image source: Evening Standard

From the recent Las Vegas, Nevada massacre at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival emerged three of many stories that put into sharp focus the people whom God sent to be a blessing to those afflicted.

From an Internet post found in ‘Love What Matters’ in Facebook, a young girl talks about how she was rescued through an act of valour by a stranger whom she met hardly two hours earlier at the music festival. As both of them moved closer to the stage to dance, they heard crackling noises that many had originally thought were fireworks. 

But then when the stage performer himself bolted, others including this young woman’s friend realised it was continuous rapid gunfire coming from up the nearby Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. The stranger, a U.S. Marine no less, acted immediately:

“Before I knew what was going on, Brendan tackled me down to the ground and covered me from the fire. It stopped again and he looked around to see what was happening and then it just kept going,” the young woman said.

After they had reached a safe place, she used his phone to call her sister, letting her know she was okay. She later said, “The whole night, he didn’t leave my side.”

Even in the midst of our darkest crisis, God brings people to be a real blessing and to remind us that His light still shines. Go here for more details.

Here in the second story is a 21-year-old guy who told how his very own sister flung herself atop to protect him and then told him how much she loved him. Her selflessness transformed the way he viewed precious life. As he entered the concert as an avowed agnostic, he emerged a believer in Christ, blessed by the very fact that because of his sister’s love, he got through the massacre alive.

“There’s no way that all of that happened and that I made it and I was blessed enough to still be here alive talking to you today,” he said to a news reporter.

Every Christian – including myself – has his moment of decision when we know it’s the right time to cross the divide and follow Jesus. Many of us do that in far more peaceful times under very different circumstances. Even if the conditions are more trying than usual, they pale by comparison to being caught in a massacre crossfire.

For this young man, that transformation when he made that personal decision to pursue God can hardly be called peaceful. Right smack in the middle of a massacre that so far claimed almost 60 lives and injured over 500, the testimony of his life is yet another stunning example of how God works with people in our midst. Go here for more details.

In the third story, a man and his wife were desperately trying to rush to safety amidst the raining bullets. As they approached a wall, he helped his wife and another woman to get over it but right then, he was shot in the leg. The wound became so bad that even as others tried to help, the bleeding simply worsened.

“By the time I got over the wall, my pants were already soaked and my shoe was full of blood. I knew I wouldn’t have made it,” he said.

Just as he thought he was sure to die, a stranger appeared out of nowhere. He removed the guy’s belt and used it as a makeshift tourniquet around his leg before staying together to basically get out of trouble. 

When it didn’t look like further help was going to come, he feared he would lose his leg but out of the blue, a “saviour in a pickup truck” turned up and ferried them to a hospital.

Two strangers in a night of hell without whom, this guy could have lost more than just his leg. In a tragedy such as this, the blessings of people, often just strangers, can best be found:

“The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” (Jn 1:4-5, NLT)

Thankful for how God blessed us with our past

Image source: Red Letter Christians

Let’s face it; many of us have pasts that we’d rather not talk about. The shame is often too great to contemplate opening up and unless that person is someone we implicitly trust, we’d more likely bury the past with us when we die. Many of us don’t do shame very well, it seems.

Some people often talk about fessing up and then bury the hatchet. Others say it’s best put behind us and forgotten. Whichever way floats your boat, one thing is common – nobody thinks dwelling on them is a smart thing to do. Instead we should just get closure and move on.

Well, Christians know to go before Christ, confess our lot, talk about it, perhaps seek pastoral counselling, reflect on it through Scripture and then we find the real peace to move on. In other words, it is when we seek the Lord and let Him take on our burden that we can become light enough to carry on.

Jesus said it best in the Gospel of Matthew:

“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Mt 11:28-30, NLT)

In similar ways, where our history reveals wrongdoings against us, the message remains the same. We still need Christ to help comfort us and if necessary, seek counselling help in church to deal and cope with it before we can really move on in our lives. It is the same burden although the foot is on the other shoe.

But we mustn’t forget to forgive our transgressors. Just as we pray for peace in our own hearts, we should also pray for those who did us harm. Pray that God will forgive them because in truth, they often do not know what they did (Lk 23:34). 

Pray that the Lord may bring change to their hearts. Pray too that they will know the wrong of their doings and follow Jesus in contrition so that their lives be saved. Pray then that they will be transformed just as we ourselves are transformed by the same living God.

Remember what Jesus said:

“If you forgive those who sin against you, your Heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Mt 7:14-15, NLT)

If we call ourselves Christians, then the burden is upon us to lead exemplary lives that show Christ in all that we do and say. Yet of course, the stumbling block that keeps us from doing that is the anger, frustration and fury that is in us, waiting to be unleashed upon those who do us wrong. 

It is often easy to do that, to vent our spleen and tell the world never to mess with us. But then, instead of people admiring and respecting us, they are likely cowed by our anger or they’re disgusted enough to walk away. The worst part of this is in assessing our conduct, they wrongly attribute it to Christ.

But the Bible is full of instructions that are counter to how the world prefers us to behave. When the flesh goads us to seek revenge, Paul exhorts us to do just the opposite:

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words and slander, as well as all types of evil behaviour. Instead be kind to each other, tender hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” (Eph 4:31-32, NLT)

He said similarly in his letter to the Colossians:

“Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourself with tender hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body, you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.” (Col 3:12-15, NLT)

Many agree that our past shapes our present and then our present will have ramifications for our future. Time is a continuum and as such, everything we do within our own timeline will affect who we become and what we eventually have to deal with. 

When we do great things in our past, our present will reflect that and then equip us for our future. But when we have a dark past that continues to haunt us, our present will likewise be tainted, making it difficult for us to step boldly into our future.

For all of that therefore, we must go before the Lord and repent of our sins. Those of us who regularly confess to Him and by faith received Christ as our Lord and Saviour, have a wonderfully compassionate God who hears our pleas and saves us from perdition. In saving us from our precarious fall, He certainly blesses us regardless of what our past looked like. In fact, no matter our history, thank God for it.

Thank Him for wresting your soul from bondage. Know that only He can free us from our damnation. And realise that until we met Christ, all of us were equally as wretched. 

Therefore then, thank Him for allowing us to become wholesome once again so that we may be able to realise our fullest potential to do good, to praise and worship Him. Thank Him too for offering us the one thing no one else can – salvation. This is, indeed, the richest gift anyone can offer us in all of our lives.

And then thank Him for the joys we experience in our past even if sometimes, we struggle to find or identify them. Thank Him also for His mercy and forgiveness we so undeservedly receive. It is only through His grace that we are spared and through His love, He carries us safely through the most difficult trying times in our lives that have come to pass (Ps 68:19).

Roughly the same spot where I nearly lost my life, like these Thai tourists who became victims on a trip up Cameron Highlands (Image source: My Sinchew)

I recall a particular incident when I could have surely lost my life. It involved a friend and me returning from a daytrip up in the cool climate of Cameron Highlands. 

On our trip back, the road was all downhill but there were fast sweeping corners and also switchbacks that demand caution and attention. Some of them require drastic shaving of vehicle speed in order to negotiate the bend safely. In other words, though it may not sometimes look it, the downhill return can be treacherous especially if one’s inexperienced.

On the trip down, my friend, a rookie when it came to driving outside of Ipoh, took over the wheel of my car. On one particular long back straight descent, she appeared indifferent to the vehicle getting increasingly faster. 

Despite my warning her of an approaching hard right turn, it seems she was either dreaming or she wasn’t listening. Before she realised it, we suddenly came to the 90-degree hard right turn and horrified by the suddenness, she froze.

Sitting next to her, I instinctively reached out for the steering wheel and yanked it hard to the right, forcing her own hands off. Being in what appeared to be catatonic shock, it wouldn’t have meant anything to her. But I kept yanking the wheel and holding it locked to the right in order to force the car’s front wheels to turn. 

As the car scrubbed speed off such a hard turn, it spun a little more than a full circle. Miraculously, no vehicle came from behind us for the next few seconds. Had there been, the outcome would have been catastrophic. Finally the car came to an abrupt halt.

While my friend was still in a full state of shock, I got out and looked around the car. It was then my turn to be in shock. Looking at the nose of the car, I then realised that it was mere inches away from the Armco that separated us from the cliff edge. Looking down, I realised how close both of us were to certain death. 

It then didn’t take long for me to fully comprehend God’s miracle at hand without which, I wouldn’t be here to write this. This was one unbelievable testimony made even more dramatic when I later discovered that on that very spot, many had already died when their cars (and buses) careening off the cliff and plunged to their deaths.

That was many years ago, well before I was married. Today, I still thank God for having spared my life. But it isn’t just that miracle alone for there have been others. Though hardly as dramatic, every little miracle, minor or otherwise, is an unmistakable blessing that can only come from God. And each is a reminder of how good and merciful God is to us. Truly, His blessings transcend time.

I also thank Him for His grace that has seen our family weather through some of our most difficult moments. A case in mind was when my mother endured her second bout of cancer until her death. Even as I was resigned to believing that my Taoist parents would never be saved, in a complete stroke of unexpected miracle, God blessed them with the opportunity to accept Christ and be baptised in their octogenarian years. 

It was about a year and a little more after that, that my beautiful mother, much loved by so many, passed away. In His blessed nature, God proved merciful and compassionate.

Just as I am thankful that such a wonderful mother was part of my life, I also feel equally humbled that God had blessed me with a maternal grandfather who chose to believe in me even when others had written me off as an academic dud. 

While my immediate relatives heaped scorn on my prospects, it was my grandfather who set them straight and maintained his faith in me. After I failed disastrously in my Economics course (I was never cut out for something that boring), I switched to Journalism but by the time my results began to bear fruit, he passed away from a fatal heart attack almost 6,000 kilometres away.

I recall returning to Malaysia to pay my respects and then shedding tears at the loss of opportunity to vindicate his faith in me. Now looking back, I can better appreciate how and what Job felt following the tragic deaths of his sons and daughters when their oldest brother’s home collapsed from a powerful wind (Job 1:18-19):

“I came naked from my mother’s womb and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the Name of the Lord!” (Job 1:21, NLT)

In effect, Job is saying, “No matter that I have sustained such losses in my life, I am thankful to God for having given me my sons and daughters whom I have had the privilege of loving all the years they were with me.”

Hindsight is 20-20. How true that is. It was only in the later years of my mother’s life that I began to appreciate her for who she was as my mother. It’s funny how when I was an acne-challenged teen, the only preoccupying thing was to get out of their clutches and into freedom. 

Australia offered not just an education opportunity but a life-transforming cultural and maturation experience that I readily accepted. I proudly became an Australian and thoroughly enjoyed being one for to me, it also defined my freedom from my parents.

No doubt I savoured the independence (from my parents) but at the same time, I grew up embracing values that shaped not just my intellect but also my emotional maturity. By the early Eighties, I became a Christian though a nominal (superficial) one because I did so without fully understanding the implications. 

It was only towards the end of the millennium that God changed me irreversibly by instilling in me, a heart for Christ. When that happened, how I viewed my parents changed.  

Dealing then with my mother’s death – exactly two years ago this month – was excruciatingly hard. The loss was just as hard to take as it was watching how my father crumbled emotionally at her funeral and then collapsed just before the casket was slowly rolled into the crematorium’s furnace chamber. 

Thinking about her today and still missing her doesn’t get any easier as well. But despite the complexities that surround the way we feel, I am blessed to have had my mother for as long as God allowed. I just wished that I had more years of appreciating her but all the same, we thank the Lord for her.

Looking into our past and finding plenty of things to be thankful to God for enhances our spiritual and emotional self. It offers us a great opportunity to humble ourselves and count our blessings.

Thankful for the blessings in our present lives

By no means perfect, Malaysia is at least free of the foibles in Europe (Image source: Free Malaysia Today)

As our past moulds us to be who we are today, our very life’s substance is also filled with present blessings for which we are thankful to the Lord. In the NIV translation, Psalm 46:1 talks about God as not just “our refuge and strength” but also, “an ever-present help in trouble.” In other words, He is always ready to help when trouble looms or strikes our lives.

Just as we can look back at our history and find plentiful reasons to be thankful of, we can certainly do the same when we look at who we are today.

What is there for me to be thankful, you ask? I, for one, needn’t look any farther than the fact that I am in a country that, its myriad flaws (some of which are terrible, I might add) aside, I am actually relatively safe and secure where serious jihadi threats are not as apparent. 

I am thankful I am not subjected to the many heinous acts of bloody terrorism that have persistently plagued Europe in recent times. When I think of the recent events in France, the U.K., Spain, Italy, Belgium and Germany and elsewhere in the continent, I cringe and then become grateful that I am where I am now.

I am thankful that I don’t have to deal face-to-face with the domestic massacres and mass killings that regularly taint the United States. Fresh from the very deadly Nevada massacre, America is today besieged by murderous rampages that appear to be constantly on the rise. 

With as many as 20 other incidents in the last six years alone victimising not only innocent citizens but with some specifically targeting police officers, it is difficult to have a sense of personal security.

I am thankful that I am not besieged with the realities of the horrific rape crises that brought South Africa infamy in 2014 as the ‘Rape Capital of the World’ or for that matter, India. I might not be a woman but I do have a wife and two little daughters to worry about. 

When the little ones grow up, their exposure and vulnerability to sexual predators become even more of a concern. Though where I live is not free from rape cases, it is by no means even comparable.

I am also thankful that I am in a country where women have far more privileges and rights than in Saudi Arabia where only recently, driving became permissible. Suppression of human rights can vary from country to country. Even the seemingly most democratic countries will have stories to tell and that includes where I am today. Still, not a lot of countries can match Saudi Arabia in this context.

So while we have to deal with the shame of the unprecedented 1MDB scandal and all the corruption, racism and religious persecutions, Malaysia still has a lot for someone like me to be thankful to God for. Of course, it is far from perfect. If we were to line up all the faults and problems that beset this country, we’d be going around the Equator many times over. 

Still, I think of those in impoverished underdeveloped nations where the next meal is never a guarantee, where food and shelter is scarce, where the dignity of life is diminished or where getting an education is less probable than a roll of the dice, and I have this many reasons to be thankful.

For all the freedoms we have, though many might arguably say are too limiting, most of us take them for granted. Many I know flaunt and abuse them. Given the latitude today, so many express entitlement, believing that they don’t have to be earned. 

While we needn’t be thankful to any politician for our freedoms, we ought to with God. Just like our free will so freely and preciously given by the Lord, our freedom is our responsibility to be good, to do good and to offer goodness to all.

While we talk about the present, we should not leave behind our very own families and friends. I’m always thankful to the Lord for giving me my wife, Marianne, who is often more than what I deserve. In her, I have a best friend, partner for life, a great cook, innovative gardener and a fellow Christian who shares my life. 

Through Him, my wife and I now enjoy a pair of twin toddlers who, in a few weeks, will be two years old. And yet, quite amazingly, there has never been any twins in either of our genealogies.

Wherever we go, we’re constantly asked about the twins by strangers who pass by. People stop in their tracks and tell us how pretty or cute they are. They smile and light up. They want to play with them, carry them and even take pictures of them. And because this happens virtually every day of our lives since they were born (so far), we don’t need reminding of God’s goodness and how we are thankful to Him for our family life.

Besides our family, God gave us our band of friends near and far. And they are all dear to us in as different a way as how we came to meet one another. Through thick and thin, we go through our lives intertwined with theirs. We share in our joys as much as in our hurts.

Recently we took on one family’s hurt when tragedy struck them. They lost their only doting child, a 22-year-old girl who had so much life ahead of her. She apparently died from panic attacks that eventually caused her heart to give up, all because she was worried about her exam results. Attending her funeral was tough for us. Just as we saw her parents crumble and cry as her casket was slowly transferred to the hearse, we too could not hold our own tears back.

And then, we also shared in the burdens borne by an elderly couple in church who are in need of meaningful company in their loneliness. It seemed they relished sharing and fellowshipping and were not getting enough of that. 

Often these days, we spend our time, praying for one another, sharing the Lord’s Word together and spurring each other to greater joys. We trade encouragements. We prod for laughter in our midst. We do what we can to enjoy our time in the presence of God. And all in all, we are incredibly blessed to have them and in God, we are thankful for His blessings.

All of this reminds me of Psalm 147:3 (NLT), which says, “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” Indeed, He does. When He gathers His children together, it is not just to trade good news but to unite in love and kindness when we hurt or are in pain. 

It is despite such darker times that our fellowship strengthens and consolidates in the Lord, amplified, reinforced and greatly encouraged by His ever-wonderful promises such as how Paul puts it in these two passages:

“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.” (1 Cor 10:13, NLT)

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:8-10, NIV)

Don Moen today (Image source: ghananet.com.gh)

There’s a very famous song called ‘Give Thanks’ written by Henry Smith but made famous by singer Don Moen that carries these beautiful lyrics that are obviously inspired by the above Scripture passage. Here goes:

Give thanks with a grateful heart

Give thanks to the Holy One

Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son.

And now, let the weak say, “I am strong”

Let the poor say, “I am rich”

Because of what the Lord has done for us.

If you haven’t heard of the name Martin Rinkart, he was a German Lutheran clergyman but he was also a very accomplished hymnist. Of the many hymns he has penned, perhaps the most noteworthy and outstanding is ‘Now Thank We All Our God’ (or. Nun Danket Alle Gott) written around 1636, roughly thirteen years before his demise in Eilenburg, Germany. 

About a decade later, Johann Crüger added the melody, which we know of today. The lyrics, when translated to English by Catherine Winkworth in the 19th century, read as follows:

“Now thank we all our God

with heart and hands and voices,

Who wondrous things has done,

in Whom this world rejoices;

Who from our mothers’ arms

has blessed us on our way

With countless gifts of love

and still is ours today.

In the above first verse, Rinkart declared his praises to God. In the following below, the lyrics move into a prayerful state. 

“O may this bounteous God

through all our life be near us,

With ever joyful hearts

and blessed peace to cheer us;

And keep us in His grace,

and guide us when perplexed;

And free us from all ills,

in this world and the next!

In the third and final verse below, Rinkart devotes to Trinitarian praise, mentioning in the same breath, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. 

“All praise and thanks to God

the Father now be given;

The Son and Him Who Reigns

with Them in Highest Heaven;

The one eternal God,

under earth and heaven adore;

For it, it was, is now

and shall be ever more.

The Thirty Years' War (Image source: Bethel Chapel Church)

This hymn would probably have been one of many others if not for the history behind Rinkart’s life and the setting in which it was written. Rinkart’s life as a Lutheran minister was right in the heart of the brutal Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) in which the town of Eilenburg was so besieged by the Swedes that it became a refuge for political and military fugitives. 

Overcrowding soon plagued the town and eventually came deadly pestilence and famine. As the town’s first surviving pastor, it was Rinkart who conducted about 50 funerals on a daily basis, but in that same year alone, he ended up burying 4,000. Yet the actual number who died was over 8,000.

Rinkart suffered tremendously through the 31 years in his personal capacity as well as a minister in Eilenburg, Saxony. In fact among the funerals he conducted was tragically that of his poor own wife. Eilenburg became frequently overrun by armies, compelling him to turn his home into a half-way house for victims looking for food that even he was hard-pressed to find for his own family. 

Yet he stood tall for his flock and he helped in every possible way to reduce their distress. Even so, he was not spared the ordeal of watching soldiers getting quartered in his house. He was also a constant victim of others coming to plunder his already modest stock of grain and household provisions. If these sound bad, Rinkart endured far worse.

Yet remarkably, he remained of sound mind and body. Amidst the worsening pestilence, famine arrived. It got so extreme that it was not unusual to see anywhere from 30 to 40 people fighting in the streets just to get at a dead carcass be it a cat or a crow. 

In and amongst the chaos, destruction and devastation, Rinkart did all he could to organise help including giving away everything he had in his possession short of the barest rations for his own family. And still, the starving lot came begging at his door for they all saw in him, their source of calm and refuge. Yet again, the worst hadn’t quite hit him.

Next came the punishing Swedes who piled on the town’s misery, demanding a hefty tribute of 30,000 florins. Seeing that was impossible to honour, Rinkart went on behalf of the town to beg the general in the hope that he would be merciful but he refused to budge. 

With nothing to lose anymore, the Lutheran minister turned to the townspeople who had followed him and said, “Come, my children, we can find no hearing, no mercy with men. Let us take refuge with God.”

And with that, he led them to kneel and pray. Rinkart’s prayer was so touching and down to earth that the Swedish general capitulated and summarily reduced his demand to a more manageable 2,000 florins. 

Finding huge relief for the beleaguered town was one thing, abating his own personal losses was quite another. For Rinkart, it was a losing battle. In time to come, he was forced to mortgage his future income for several years just to make ends meet.

With that backdrop, it’s humbling to realise the pervasive substance behind Rinkart’s hymn. And if those lyrics speak of his country’s tragedies, you surely wouldn’t know by reading them. They also don’t describe how his selfless services went unappreciated by the town’s leaders. 

Plaque in Eilenburg commemorating Martin Rinkart (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

Neither did they stop harassing him relentlessly about finances once the war began to wane. What the lyrics to the hymn truly reveal was his spirit of unbounded trust and steadfastness to offer thanks to God. When peace finally came in 1648, Rinkart was too exhausted to enjoy it, dying the following year, probably from stress.

Through the 31 years that he was in Eilenburg, Rinkart trained his heart on God. His spiritual focus was unwavering and unerring no matter what trial he faced. In his faith, he radiated the joy of the Lord in service to his fellow man. 

As for inspiration for this hymn, he was moved by a passage from the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus (not to be confused with Ecclesiastes), which says:

“And now bless the God of all, who everywhere works great wonders, who fosters our growth from birth and deals with us according to His mercy. May He give us gladness of heart, and may there be peace in our days in Israel as in the days of old. May He entrust to us His mercy and may He deliver us in our days!” (Sirach 50:22, NRSV)

The example set by someone like Rinkart should remind us of our thankfulness to God not just for our past but in the ever-present days of our lives. That in all that we do, in all that we are tried and tested and for all the trials and tribulations that come our way, there is a wonderful God out there who not only is in complete control but can and will comfort us for all the days of our lives.

Let us never forget this.

Thankful for the blessings that are yet to come

Image source: SlidePlayer

Even when we set the tone straight for every day of our lives, we can still be unsure of what the future holds for us. We have no grasp of how much farther each of us will get to live. We have neither the surety nor clarity as to how the world will indeed end. 

And we have no understanding of how we will deal with what lies ahead. Yet in all of these uncertainties, we can be sure of one thing; that God will always be there for us no matter what. As David’s psalm says:

“The Lord is my light and my salvation

– so why should I be afraid?

The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger,

so why should I tremble?

When evil people come to devour me,

when my enemies and foes attack me,

they will stumble and fall.

Though a mighty army surrounds me,

my heart will not be afraid.

Even if I am attacked,

I will remain confident.” (Ps 27:1-3, NLT)

If we read a little further down the psalm, more are revealed. In verse 5, David wrote:

“For He will conceal me there when trouble comes,

He will hide me in His sanctuary.

He will place me out of reach on a high rock.” (v.5, NLT)

Skipping to verse 10, he then says:

“Even if my father and mother abandon me,

the Lord will hold me close.” (v.10, NLT)

Finally, look at last two verses of the psalm:

“Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness

while I am here in the land of the living.

Wait patiently for the Lord.

Be brave and courageous.

Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” (vv.13-14, NLT)

Throughout this psalm and not just the above selected passages, the word ‘will’ is used ten times. The tone and emphasis are obvious – David is talking about what God promises to do for him in the time to come should the need arises. Using the NLT translation, let us have a look at God’s promised blessings (bound by the use of the word ‘will’) one by one:

Verses 2, 3

“When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.”

“Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident.”

Interpreting verses 2-3: While the famous first verse tells us not to be afraid because the Lord will show us the way (‘the Lord is light’) to hide and protect us, the second (verse) predicts that beast-like men bent on eating him will fall and pose no harm. Perhaps, David recalled his episode with Goliath. After all, it was the giant Philistine who taunted him, threatening to feed his body to the wild beasts and birds of prey. But then David slugged him dead with just a single pebble. Very likely, he believed that since He’d helped in before, He still will. It’s the same for us – just as God had helped us in the past, surely He will continue to do so in the future.

Verses 5, 6

“For He will conceal me there when troubles come; He will hide me in His sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock.”

“Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me. At His sanctuary, I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music.”

Interpreting verses 5 and 6: Together with the previous verse, all of these three reveal four different words that offer us an idea of where the Lord lives. According to the NLT, verse 4 says ‘house’ followed by ‘Temple’ while verse 5 says ‘sanctuary’ and then ‘high rock.’ Other translations may use ‘palace,’ ‘hiding place’ and ‘tent.’ They do not purport to be different places though. Instead they simply tell us where God is. As we are Christians, then God lives in us. We are therefore the house of God.  

Verse 10

“Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.”

Interpreting verse 10: Here, David assures himself that even if his parents were to move on and forget him, the Lord will still uphold him. He will surely not forget His servant. The phrase ‘my father and mother’ can also point to ‘family’ or ‘loved ones.’ By holding David close, it means that the Lord will be in his presence, protecting and covering him even if his fellow men desert him.

Verse 13

“Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living.”

Interpreting verse 13: The use of the word ‘yet’ leads us to consider the previous verse in which David humbly asks God not to give him up to his enemies. Even in the worst possible case, David remains confident that God will answer him for so long as he shows boldness in his faith and wait upon Him.

Looking past a disturbing future

Image source: The Masculine Epic

The significance of Psalm 27 should not be overlooked when we seek to understand how God blesses us in our future. As it is with David, our future is assured but just like him, we’re not always sure what’s in store for us from our enemies and those who hate us. 

Throughout the world, forces of destruction are working their way into the hearts of men. They tear at the fabric of families, communities, churches and societies at large. They destroy whatever they seek to (destroy) and they bring messages of hate in more forms than people can cope.

In the West, these forces of destruction come in the shape of liberalism and socialism. From these come myriad elements that spew a wide range of bigotry that come in many different names including feminism, minority rights, euthanasia (‘dying with dignity’), transgenderism, gender-neutralism, imposition of Sharia law, atheism, homosexuality and same-sex marriage, adultery, elitism, abortion, entitlement, racism, sexism, and denial of free speech.

Let’s not forget anti-Semitism and the widespread opposition movement against Christianity as well as the disturbing but growing force of Islamisation that is seeping in unchecked through en masse Muslim migration. 

And then, there is also an astonishing intolerance for opinions other than their own. All of these are working synchronously to destroy Western societies from asunder and despite all the warnings, governments continue with stunning ignorance.

Image source: Washington Examiner

Many see the end of the world from the Eastern perspective and in recent times, North Korea has made it increasingly real. But they aren’t the only rogue state that threatens peace. Other sources of danger come from Pakistan who continues to abet the Taliban as well as Afghanistan, Yemen and very possible Qatar. Let’s also not forget Saudi Arabia who despite their friendly ties to the West, continues to be a highly suspected hotbed for terrorism.

Further east, pan-Islamism is growing more militant by the day in Indonesia and then down south of the Pacific, Australia continues to flirt dangerously with American-inspired liberal-tainted political correctness. Already we’ve seen attempted Muslim terrorism in Sydney and around the state. Amidst all of this, it would be perilous to ignore Chinese hegemonic ambitions for the entire Asian region, starting with the Far East. The contesting claims

For a long time, biblical scholars and historians point to Armageddon in the Bible as the point of detonation for the final act in the destruction of the world, making the Middle-East an entirely unpredictable and incendiary region. This is also where God’s Promised Land, Israel, is surrounded in every direction by countries and terrorist organisations that, since its independence in 1948, have been hell-bent on annihilating them.

Of these, Iran poses extreme concern with its open secret of developing weapons-grade nuclear capability that is now left unchecked courtesy of the previous U.S. government. Libya and Iraq are continually torn apart by civil strife. 

Meanwhile, armed conflicts in Syria don’t look like abating even if the Islamic State (ISIS) and its caliphate ambitions finally appear to be waning. No doubt, al-Qaeda will step in and continue terrorising the rest of the world.  

While the Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle-East are problematic enough in raising doubts for the future, we have not considered Africa as well as South and Central Americas. Africa continues to be broadly lawless. 

Other than South Africa, the rest of the sub-continent is rife with terrorism, religious persecution, piracies, poaching and kidnappings not to mention extreme poverty, famine, illiteracy and unemployment.

In South America, Venezuela is teetering on collapse as its brand of socialism is showing real signs of cracking. Further up, Colombia in Central America continues to be as big a drug problem as Mexico. With drug problems come uncontrolled brutal murders and eventually, anarchy. From anarchy, it’s just a few short steps away from complete socio-economic destruction.

Inevitably, we all ask not one but many questions. What is there to look forward to? Or what is there to be positive about when debauchery takes charge of our world? As Christians, how do we face a world that is getting more hateful of us? And how do we know if or when we cross that line of no return? Worse, how long more before someone is insane enough to press that hot button? Many questions but no one have reliable answers.

Dealing with all of this, it’s hard not to see parallels with David’s Psalm 27. All you need to do is to read it again, then picture the future scenario and map it against his words. Believe me, you’d be surprised at how uncannily prophetic he is.

It Shall Come to Pass

Reverend George Foreman (Image source: InfoBarrel)

There is a chapter in ex-boxing great George Foreman’s 2007 book entitled, ‘God In My Corner – A Spiritual Memoir’ that is called ‘Storms Don’t Last.’ It’s worth reading just for the little story he tells about an elderly woman who was asked what her favourite Scripture verse was.

“And it came to pass,” she said.

Somewhat taken aback, the person asked, “And it came to pass?”

“But that doesn’t mean anything,” he added.

“Yes, it does. I know that whenever a trial comes, it doesn’t come to stay,” she replied.

“It comes – to pass.”

“It’s not going to be around forever,” she explained.

For those who are biblically astute, it’s not hard to agree with the elderly lady. The fact that she’s spot on says much about her wisdom and how the phrase is not properly understood today. Yet the words ‘it came to pass’ is numerously found in the Old Testament. In fact it appears as many as 120 times if you refer to the KJV translation, starting with Genesis 4:14.

For those who aren’t aware, ‘it came to pass’ is, exegetically, another way of saying, ‘it happened.’ On a more pragmatic perspective, the elderly lady’s explanation would be easier to understand. Today, very few people ever learn how to use the classic phrase. Instead, the modern take on it is, ‘nothing lasts forever’ or ‘time heals all wounds.’

Here is a small selection of how this phrase is used in Scripture. Notice that all these examples are sourced from the KJV translation (bolding effect is mine):

“And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the self-same day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.” (Ex 12:41, KJV)

 “It came to pass when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp and played with his hand…” (1 Sam 16:23, KJV)

“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.” (Lk 2:1, KJV)

“And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.” (1 Kg 18:1, KJV)

“And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said unto His disciples, ‘Ye know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified.” (Mt 26:1-2, KJV)

As the elderly lady explained, ‘it came to pass’ is simply quite the opposite of ‘it came to stay.’ Taken like this, it’s not difficult to see the meaning of the phrase. If our trials came and stayed, we would have nothing but hopelessness and despair because it means we will never be able to get away from our problems. They will breathe down our neck until the day we die. And when we die, we’d probably not die restfully either!

On the other hand, if our trials came and then passed, we will see the end of our trials. They won’t stay. They will all be blown away. They will disappear and we can all move on to better things. In other words, our trials will inevitably lead to better things. That’s another way of saying that, God’s blessings are neatly stashed away, ready to unveil themselves once ‘it came to pass.’

We all deal with trials every day. Little ones, big ones, short ones or long ones, trials come in different sizes and they pose varying degrees of difficulty to us. But one thing is certain, they’re always around and throughout our lives, we will constantly come face to face with them. But they will all come to pass.

Friends I know who lost their jobs due to retrenchment thought it’d be the end of the world for them. They’d lose their homes to foreclosures. They’d have to sell the car or sacrifice the yearly family camp. Invariably, they all land themselves even better jobs. Just when they thought the trials would overcome them, they were gone.

Being betrayed by those you thought were your friends could turn anyone’s life inside out but when we realise we can learn something from it, that’s when the trial isn’t just over but God has also turned it into something very positive. 

Invariably, we become smarter in how we define with friendships and we also learn to choose friends more prudently. Just when we thought it’s going to be impossible to trust anyone, God turns things around and tell us they have come to pass.

It seems to happen all the time – when my laptop hangs, that’s when I’d lose a whole chunk of work that I had not saved and all the labour was for nought. Somehow though I always manage to replace it with something even better. The new words flow more smoothly. They make more sense. They seem more impactful. As a matter of fact, what I lost can stay lost! It’s incredible but that happens all the time.

In reality, for me anyway, so many of the failures I encountered in life ended up making me more successful in much the same way as how numerous mistakes did bring out the best in me. In fact, I have also come to learn that trials aren’t always brought on by anything I did. You may find that to be the same for you too. In fact, as you may recall from the Bible, Job would have something to say about this but more of him later.

Speaking of Scripture, the Bible tells of trials that shape the characters of most if not all those who define the Old and the New Testaments. It is these that underpin their faith, inner strength and moral fibre. These are the people who understood that trials would come to pass and that to endure them is to receive God’s promise. In the end, it is always His blessings that mattered more than the trials.

Jesus at the Last Supper as portrayed in the motion picture Passion of the Christ (Image source: fansshare.com)

In recalling what Jesus said to His disciples during the Last Supper, we are reminded of just what this promise is about:

“You have stayed with Me in My time of trial. And just as My Father has granted Me a Kingdom, I now grant you the right to eat and drink at My table in My Kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to Me again, strengthen your brothers.” (Lk 22:28-32, NLT)

Of all the people we know, Jesus was the recipient of the worst possible trials but like the elderly lady said, they all came to pass. He certainly knew to say, “and it came to pass” for each new trial He faced. Through the trials He went through, He became the ‘gold standard’ upon which not only his apostles would model themselves but also the many thousands of others who ended up following after Him in the many centuries thereafter.  

Just as the above passage reveals, Peter, for example, was told that he would face trials and indeed, he did. And just as Jesus said, they came to pass. He didn’t just overcome them but he also became a better person as a result. Though there were more (trials) to come, he knew that like those in the past, “they will come to pass.”

James, brother of Jesus, also faced trials but even so, he urges us to think of them as opportunities for joy:

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” (Jm 1:2-4, NLT)

Paul was no different. Looking at the life he led following his encounter with Jesus, you’d know from his letter to the church in Corinth that he was fully aware of what these trials were about:

“If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.” (1 Cor 10:12-13, NLT)

Through Christ, Paul also knew that “it came to pass” also.

And now we come to the one man who endured the worst trials (second to Jesus, of course). Job was a man who was arguably the wealthiest person in the world for his day, who was for want of nothing and had everything he ever needed. His farm was huge. His flocks were so innumerable. And his family brought him great happiness. 

But then, Satan challenged God, saying that without the wealth He gave him, Job would neither love nor worship Him. And with that, God agreed that Job could be put to the test provided he remained alive.

A boil-stricken Job visited by admonishing friends (Image source: Handmaidens of the Lord)

That agreement ended up with Job being put through unthinkable pain, hardship and tragedies where not just his livestock but his children were also killed. Following his affliction of painful boils all over his body, his wife said to him:

“Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.” (Job 2:9, NLT)

But then Job retorted:

“You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong. (v.10, NLT)

Job was keenly aware that no matter how incredibly painful and tragic his trials were – and they indeed were – they ultimately wouldn’t last. Rather they would “come to pass.” Consider his final response to Bildad, one of his advising friends.

Here’s how Job described his abominable trials:

“My relatives stay far away and my friends have turned against me. My family is gone and my close friends have forgotten me. My servants and maids consider me a stranger. I am like a foreigner to them. When I call my servant, he doesn’t come; I have to plead with him! My breath is repulsive to my wife. I am rejected by my own family. Even young children despise me. When I stand to speak, they turn their backs on me. My close friends detest me. Those I love have turned against me. I have been reduced to skin and bones and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth.” (Job 19:13-20, NLT)

Now, here’s the good part:

“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and He will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see Him for myself. Yes, I will see Him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!” (19:25-27, NLT)

Having Job’s account included in the Bible may have many reasons but I’d like to think that the way he dealt with his trials would be one of them. His trials were unimaginably harrowing. They’re beyond what most of us can handle. He mightn’t have coasted through them but he ground them out one after another. 

And when his friends came by to lecture him on the accountability of his sins, his rebuttal was thorough and beyond reproach. In fact, as we read towards the end of the Book of Job, God rewarded him for having passed his many torrid trials at the hands of Satan.

God’s blessings for the life beyond

Image source: HopeChannel

Being Christians, our future is worth celebrating because God has secured it for us. His guarantee is why we’re Christians. And for all of that, we thank Him and count our blessings. So, no matter how bleak the future looks, we leave the flaws behind and instead, relish the thought that He will reveal His promises to us when the time comes.

Naturally, the sad part of all this is that unbelievers cannot join us in celebrating this wonderful promise. For them, His blessings are not available. Instead, they will be eternally separated from God. It is not heaven that they are bound but the dreaded lake of fire.

It is because of God’s promised blessings that we are confident that our trials and tribulations will all come to pass. They will be rough. They will be tough. Getting past them will take a great deal out of us but we will endure so long as the Lord’s hand is there to comfort us and so long as He whispers into our ears to remind us that His promises await us.

The apostle Peter says it best here:

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by His great mercy that we have been born again because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation and we have a priceless inheritance – an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by His power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.” (1 Pt 1:3-5, NLT)

It gets better. Read on.

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honour on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” (1:6-7, NLT)

John in his revelation wrote just as powerfully and inspiringly:

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

“I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, ‘Look, God’s home is now among His people! He will live with them and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.

“And the One sitting on the throne said, ‘Look, I am making everything new!’ And then, He said to me, ‘Write this down for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” (Rev 21:1-5, NLT)

Heaven and eternal life are God’s greatest promises. These are offered free to believers whose lives are intertwined with His Word. For that, there is much to be grateful for, much to be thankful. As I have said at the beginning, Colossians 3:15 instructs us to be thankful. It is, after all, God’s command to all of us. 

It is His expectation that we feel that way. So instead of drowning ourselves in pessimism, negativity, angst and depression, we should live our lives on the brighter and more positive note. Let us be mindful then of God who will train His blessings on those whose faith is pinned upon Him.

To recap, I am reminded of a song written by Don Moen and Paul Baloche called ‘Thank You Lord.’ The lyrics to the two verses offer us a fitting ending:

I come before You today and there’s just one thing that I want to say

Thank You Lord, thank You, Lord.

For all You’ve given to me, for all the blessings that I cannot see

Thank You, Lord, thank You, Lord

With a grateful heart, with a song of praise, with an outstretched arm, I will bless Your Name.

For all You’ve done in my life, You took my darkness and gave me Your light

Thank You Lord, thank You, Lord.

You took my sin and my shame, You took my sickness and healed all my pain

Thank You Lord, thank you, Lord.

With a grateful heart, with a song of praise, with an outstretched arm, I will bless Your Name.

God bless.

You may be interested in the following resources quoted in the article:

-     Foreman, George and Abraham, Ken (May 2007) God in My Corner: A Spiritual Memoir (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, English Language Edition). Available at https://www.amazon.com/God-My-Corner-Spiritual-Memoir/dp/0849903149

-     Moen, Don and Baloche, Paul (2004) Thank You Lord (Integrity’s Hosanna Music). Arranged by Dan Galbraith, resources available at https://www.praisecharts.com/songs/details/1902/thank-you-lord-sheet-music/

-     Smith, Henry (1978) Give Thanks (Integrity’s Hosanna Music). Performed by Don Moen, arranged by David Shipps, resources available at https://www.praisecharts.com/songs/details/1775/give-thanks-sheet-music