On Monday, Bryan and I flew back from Indonesia. We had spent 4 days with our friend, lovingly nicknamed “Xiao hei”. He has been busy with the Father’s business and we wanted to experience firsthand what he was doing. Another objective of our trip was to give him an opportunity to rest and relax. We knew he was working hard in the village and felt he needed some down time. We are glad he felt refreshed by our visit! My kids saw our photos and remarked that “Papa ditched us to go on a holiday!”
On Saturday morning, I had a call with Ps Angela and her church elder. During the call she remarked that God’s economy is completely different from the world’s: “We get more done when we cease striving and learn to rely on him.”
Then on Saturday evening, our guest speaker, Mr Steve Loh, spoke about “Working from a place of rest.” Just when I thought that God could not be clearer about his message, I recalled an exact theme from church camp. As we have been journalling corporately, I referred to our entry after the first night of church camp (See TB FB page entry on 20 June 23) and noticed that I had asked God to take us into divine rest at his camp. Steve’s message also focused on Exodus 33:12 -23, the main passage that we had delved deep into at camp.
I believe God is calling us to a paradigm shift. We need to allow him to redefine success for us – corporately and individually. As a church, we can take pride in our well-run ministries and contributions to the community. But I rather rejoice that in spite of all our shortcomings, God chose us as Kingdom partners. Individually, we can revel in our successes at school and work, or how well we have brought up our children. No matter how wonderful these things are, they can be lost in a moment. So rather than chase the proverbial 5Cs, I pray each day that I will choose to commune with God. I will ask each day, “How is my relationship with Abba Father?”
To my dear Talent Beacon family, will you pray with me?
“Lord, if your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. We desire your Presence. We desire to please you in everything that we do. Cleanse us from desires that do not please you. Help us to place our trust in you so that we no longer need to strive. We choose to rest in you and allow you to define success in our lives. We know in your presence we find the true source of power and joy. Help us Lord to keep our eyes on you and let us encounter you daily!”
Signing off,
Ps Ben
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