Of Valentine's Day and God..
Hi everyone!
Happy Valentine' s Day! As many of us are preparing nice lunches/dinners for their other half, (in anticipation of a price hike at the eateries), let us also call to mind the poor guys who were approached by sweet girls with a basket of roses, "Hi! would you like to buy a rose for your friend?" We all know that if there's even the slightest interest in the other party, the girl has just closed a deal with 1000% or more ROI.
*What accountant, doctor, lawyer, investment banker..i think i want to sell roses on V-day when i grow up... smirks
Okay, bear with me anyway, just trying to feel young again.
Anyway, on to the topic of this post, i was feeling rather "spiritually dry" two weeks or so ago. I put the words "spiritually dry" in "" because it's quite a commonly heard of word ,esp amongst the members of community. Well, at least it's a sign that we're fully alive and human. The spiritual walk IS going to be one of ups and downs, lows and highs!
Let me attempt to describe what my "spiritual dryness" was like:
Well, i still kept to my routine of prayer time(QT), saying(more like reciting) my prayer of agreement with my community for the intentions of the ongoing YES (Youths empowered in the Spirit) programme as well as using my lifesaver, Word Among Us, to keep my meditation on the word of God going. (The ppl behind WAU are amazing, providing quality articles, spirit-led reflections nice printing and pictures, biographies of saints, all for the price of $2! We can hardly even buy a plate of chicken rice at that price nowadays, but here, we're being nourished by the bread of Life! The word of God! )
Oh, perhaps i should add the routine of daily mass. (Apart from the rationalisation that, Yes, the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith. But we all have our lives to lead, our assignments to complete, our deadlines to rush, our stomachs to fill(strangely always hungry at 6pm, our tired bodies to rest(and we stay up till late at night doing 1001 things that aren't so productive)
we seem so happy to give ourselves nice treats and breaks for working so hard, e.g. an hour of tv, a nice holiday, a nice ice cream, going out shopping/for a movie, meeting up a friend, and the list goes on.
It's no wonder some of my friends in worship ministry are struggling in their ministry and walk. It sometimes seems like a dichotomy to lead people into worship(be it as a worship leader or as a member of the worship team), saying things like "God is good! Amen! Quoting the Worship Leader's fav psalm 150, singing songs, declaring His majesty, power, glory, grace being sufficient, unfailing love, living the way we were made, "i am not my own, you are in control", "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain", "and the world wonders why, we'll just tell them we're loving our King"
I say it's time to get real with ourselves, and see ourselves for who we really are. Do we really feel and most importantly LIVE what we preach or claim to believe. Are our actions, our prayer life, our commitment to ministry, our call to ministry and community and love, merely a Religion? Something that we fill in at a small corner of registration forms for lucky draws and free gifts?
People always say "believe! you must have faith!" Indeed! Is our belief in God, our prayer life being a two-way conversation with the eternal One, our prayers covering and interceeding for those intended, our guardian angels and the Holy Spirit guiding our lives and making our paths straight, just because we ask of it. "God help me get to school on time! Oh God! My family is always quarrelling, can you pls do something? Oh God, i failed my exams again, and i don't feel like studying, how? God! why did you take someone i love so much away from me!"
Do we realise the works of the divine in our midst, that God does answer our prayers. Perhaps not in the ways and at that instant as we often desire, but are we open to the Spirit when He prompts us, reminds us of God's mercies and love, when He draws us to Himself when our "conscience" tell us to pray now, even if we feel tired, or have 1001 better things to do. Or that split second of dilema "should i go for mass today?" before we rationalise it all away.
Especially as we claim to be a worship ministry in Zion's Joy, do we realise that this same prompting that we 'shoo' away might be in answer to the times when we worshipped with our hearts songs like "draw me close to you", "take me deeper, deeper in love with you", "more love, more power, more of you in my life", "Holy Spirit, come do as you wish, we are changed as you move in our midst","with all my heart, with all my soul, i wish to worship you and praise forever more..............
How can we continue to lead others into worship when we don't allow God to lead us in communion(in prayer, in the word of God, in the Eucharist-there's a reason why it's called communion..=p) with Him and His people. How can we claim to love Him when we can hardly realise the magnitude of His love for us!
God is madly in love with us! He waits up by the phone the whole day and night waiting for our call. He's never too busy with something else to listen to us when we grumble. If we recognised and saw, God never fails to greet us in the morning with a 'surprise gift', perhaps not a bouquet of roses, a box of brownies, the latest ipod, and its not because God can't bake but cos He has something better in store!
What is that marvellous gift that God has given you this day? We say God's mercies are new every morning, His grace is sufficient, He loves us with an everlasting love, let us take the challenge of living and searching for the fulfillment of God's promises in our lives!
"Dear Holy Spirit God, help me to recognise Your gentle voice and promptings in my life. That when you teach me to pray when i'm tired, it's probably when i need You the most. Help me to say 'yes' to You. I believe Lord, Help thou my unbelief."
Rhino No.7
Happy Valentine' s Day! As many of us are preparing nice lunches/dinners for their other half, (in anticipation of a price hike at the eateries), let us also call to mind the poor guys who were approached by sweet girls with a basket of roses, "Hi! would you like to buy a rose for your friend?" We all know that if there's even the slightest interest in the other party, the girl has just closed a deal with 1000% or more ROI.
*What accountant, doctor, lawyer, investment banker..i think i want to sell roses on V-day when i grow up... smirks
Okay, bear with me anyway, just trying to feel young again.
Anyway, on to the topic of this post, i was feeling rather "spiritually dry" two weeks or so ago. I put the words "spiritually dry" in "" because it's quite a commonly heard of word ,esp amongst the members of community. Well, at least it's a sign that we're fully alive and human. The spiritual walk IS going to be one of ups and downs, lows and highs!
Let me attempt to describe what my "spiritual dryness" was like:
Well, i still kept to my routine of prayer time(QT), saying(more like reciting) my prayer of agreement with my community for the intentions of the ongoing YES (Youths empowered in the Spirit) programme as well as using my lifesaver, Word Among Us, to keep my meditation on the word of God going. (The ppl behind WAU are amazing, providing quality articles, spirit-led reflections nice printing and pictures, biographies of saints, all for the price of $2! We can hardly even buy a plate of chicken rice at that price nowadays, but here, we're being nourished by the bread of Life! The word of God! )
Oh, perhaps i should add the routine of daily mass. (Apart from the rationalisation that, Yes, the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith. But we all have our lives to lead, our assignments to complete, our deadlines to rush, our stomachs to fill(strangely always hungry at 6pm, our tired bodies to rest(and we stay up till late at night doing 1001 things that aren't so productive)
we seem so happy to give ourselves nice treats and breaks for working so hard, e.g. an hour of tv, a nice holiday, a nice ice cream, going out shopping/for a movie, meeting up a friend, and the list goes on.
It's no wonder some of my friends in worship ministry are struggling in their ministry and walk. It sometimes seems like a dichotomy to lead people into worship(be it as a worship leader or as a member of the worship team), saying things like "God is good! Amen! Quoting the Worship Leader's fav psalm 150, singing songs, declaring His majesty, power, glory, grace being sufficient, unfailing love, living the way we were made, "i am not my own, you are in control", "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain", "and the world wonders why, we'll just tell them we're loving our King"
I say it's time to get real with ourselves, and see ourselves for who we really are. Do we really feel and most importantly LIVE what we preach or claim to believe. Are our actions, our prayer life, our commitment to ministry, our call to ministry and community and love, merely a Religion? Something that we fill in at a small corner of registration forms for lucky draws and free gifts?
People always say "believe! you must have faith!" Indeed! Is our belief in God, our prayer life being a two-way conversation with the eternal One, our prayers covering and interceeding for those intended, our guardian angels and the Holy Spirit guiding our lives and making our paths straight, just because we ask of it. "God help me get to school on time! Oh God! My family is always quarrelling, can you pls do something? Oh God, i failed my exams again, and i don't feel like studying, how? God! why did you take someone i love so much away from me!"
Do we realise the works of the divine in our midst, that God does answer our prayers. Perhaps not in the ways and at that instant as we often desire, but are we open to the Spirit when He prompts us, reminds us of God's mercies and love, when He draws us to Himself when our "conscience" tell us to pray now, even if we feel tired, or have 1001 better things to do. Or that split second of dilema "should i go for mass today?" before we rationalise it all away.
Especially as we claim to be a worship ministry in Zion's Joy, do we realise that this same prompting that we 'shoo' away might be in answer to the times when we worshipped with our hearts songs like "draw me close to you", "take me deeper, deeper in love with you", "more love, more power, more of you in my life", "Holy Spirit, come do as you wish, we are changed as you move in our midst","with all my heart, with all my soul, i wish to worship you and praise forever more..............
How can we continue to lead others into worship when we don't allow God to lead us in communion(in prayer, in the word of God, in the Eucharist-there's a reason why it's called communion..=p) with Him and His people. How can we claim to love Him when we can hardly realise the magnitude of His love for us!
God is madly in love with us! He waits up by the phone the whole day and night waiting for our call. He's never too busy with something else to listen to us when we grumble. If we recognised and saw, God never fails to greet us in the morning with a 'surprise gift', perhaps not a bouquet of roses, a box of brownies, the latest ipod, and its not because God can't bake but cos He has something better in store!
What is that marvellous gift that God has given you this day? We say God's mercies are new every morning, His grace is sufficient, He loves us with an everlasting love, let us take the challenge of living and searching for the fulfillment of God's promises in our lives!
"Dear Holy Spirit God, help me to recognise Your gentle voice and promptings in my life. That when you teach me to pray when i'm tired, it's probably when i need You the most. Help me to say 'yes' to You. I believe Lord, Help thou my unbelief."
Rhino No.7
Labels: valentine's
posted by Rhino for God! at 5:13 PM
1 Comments:
In the world that we live in today, where we are so used to efficiency and speed, it is sometimes rather confusing when God asks us to be patient and wait. During Laud's sharing by Br Surain today, we are reminded again as a community to WAIT. Wait not in a sense of expecting something to happen, but by living the present moment. This present moment requires communion, both horizontal and vertical dimensions. How our relationship is like with God in that vertical movement will be reflected in our horizontal relationship with our fellow brothers and sisters. Just my humble reflection :)
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