In the time of darkness
When we are in the time of darkness, we sometimes cry out for God: 'God where are you? If you love me so much, why do you give me so much trouble?' Some of us even want to turn away from Him.
What could we do when we are going through difficult time? First, We have to make something clear: Life is given by God. No one can have life without His love and grace. All he has given us are gifts that do not belong to us. So, is that right to only appreciate the good time that He's given us, but question Him whenever there is trouble? This is like asking your boss to give you all of his share in the company *for free* without putting in any effort. If he doesn't give you his share *for free!!*, you question whether he is a good boss. Do you think this is right?
God's love is so much valuable than your boss's share, yet he does not require us to do anything to receive the gift.
And no matter we receive the gift (in good time) or not receive the gift (in bad time), God is
always in control of our lifes. He is
always the loving Heavenly Father.
Learn from Job who went through so much troubles. He lost his house, his wealth, all of his 10 children and his wife. But the first thing he did was
not turn away from God, not even question God. The first thing he did was ...
worship God.
After he heard all the bad news from the various people, according to Job 1:20-22:
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.' In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
Job worshiped God because he knew God is in control and praise the fact that God is so powerful that He controls all things.
Can you do that?
Can I do that?
The Big Switch Off
Around 3000 Melbourne residents signed up for the 24-hour big switch off to help reducing green house gases. They had to switch off power during Oct 6 - 7 for 24 hours.
When I was a kid, I liked black-out. Actually, I was excited about it. I ran outside my house and see if everyone had a power cut. Then I ran back to my house and helped dad to find candles. Then I held my father's hand and visited our neighbours, trying to figure out what's happening. To me, this was fun.
But in fact many people are afraid of dark, because the feeling of loneliness and danger usually come with darkness. Notice that people may not necessarily stay in a dangerous position, yet they are afraid because darkness come out from their heart, not from the environment. When a person's heart does not have light, how can this person not feel lonely and in danger?
I am not afraid of dark until now, not because I can create light. But I know HE can. HE is the source of light, HE is the source of comfort and love. HE gives me hope in darkness. This is like holding my father's hand when I was a kid. I have faith in him that HE always stays with me and brings me to the place where has light and hopes.
HE is my Heavenly Father
This is the message we have heard from him [Jesus Christ] and declare to you:
God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)
