Feb 22, 2010

“Rest… it will pass…”



Last week, at the very beginning of the week – a Sunday morning, I was on an all time spiritual low and to top it all off I had a tooth ache – the painkillers were not responding and the dentist was booked up for a week. I was also slotted to lead worship the coming Friday. When I agreed to do it at the beginning of the week, I assumed my toothache would have disappeared by then. The toothache on the other hand, had no plans of doing so.

On my mind: I was wrestling with a few work related issues, plus plans I prayerfully put into motion were stagnant, the way ahead seemed foggier than usual. Gone were my blues skies, the still waters and the green pastures I so… yearned for. Instead here was I in my valley.

The toothache woke me up every two hours or so in the wee hours of the morning. I was taking painkillers (prescribed by me) haphazardly just to be rid of the pain and they weren’t responding. I was also telling myself that I should call up the worship team and tell them to find a replacement – as I believed in my heart I wouldn’t be able to make it. But during those times of doubt, I heard the still small voice assuring me, it would pass and to give it more time. “Rest… it will pass…” In the end, it did pass, all my doubts, anxieties along with the toothache vanished into thin air. I did heed the advice of the still small voice.

A lot of the time, we make decisions based on how we feel and the pressures of the world. A lot of the time, we should wait until the storm passes to make sound choices. It is difficult to see clearly when we are in pain, whether it is physical or emotional. It is hard to lean on God when the world pressures us to ‘just do it’.

No matter how difficult it is, no matter how painful it is… wait until the storm passes, wait until you can see clearly to take the next step and always, always trust God.

Feb 17, 2010

My God, He sings me lullabies…



Prayer it seemed… went unanswered. The painkillers would wear off and I would be back at square one – writhing in pure agony. I was suffering because of my own negligence. I had a bad tooth. This morning during a time of testimony, the words were inadequate to form into a sentence the thanks offering I had to my God and the moment swiftly passed.

But I am thankful…

In those wee hours between completely awakening, I knew His Presence was there, seated at the edge of my bed, with me, singing me sweet lullabies, soothing my pain, watching me sleep, covering me with blankets of melodies, praying prayers over me.

Reassuring my spirit that all would, by the break of day, be well.

Here is the God Whom I worship.
He is present.
In my pain.
He suffers when I suffer.
He holds my hand.
He is ever present.

When I wake in the middle of the night, He sits quietly by my bedside, lulling me back to sleep. With His songs, He fills my heart. He is my personal God. He cares for me as a mother over her young child. Even when my hairs are grey and I am stooped in two, He will be my Father and I His child and in the wee hours of the night, When the entire world is asleep, when I can’t fall asleep, He will be right there, sitting on the edge of my bed, singing me lullabies.

Feb 15, 2010

Accepted

And from my heart the song rises
Praises to my Father God,
the Lover of my soul.
Suddenly into His realm I am transported and
freedom wraps its arms around me,
holds me close tenderly
He removes the shackles which have bound me in despair.
Even as I serenade Him with my song,
He releases His Light into my bleak heart

And I embrace my God
With no shame,
With no guilt.

I know He loves me,
I know He does
Even though the world will stone me,
I know my God will stand in my defense,
He will shield me from the stones hurled at me
I know He loves me.
He loved me on the cross,
He loved me when I didn’t know Him.
He loved me when I shamed Him.
He loved me then.
And he loves me now

And from my heart the song rises
I sing my love song to Him.

Romans 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Feb 9, 2010

Through the torn veil...

Feb 5, 2010

What is worthy, who is unworthy?

Who should call one thing “precious” and another “worthless”?
Think about all of which you have placed a price on.
In the big wide world full promise the selected few call life a playground. In the other part of the world where it's just a gray scale landscape.

A child is molested at a tender age, a teenager is raped repeatedly until she is with child and thrown out like a dirty rag – passers by call her.. “whore, worthless piece of trash, loose…”.

But who was it who ruined her young life? Who is to blame? A baby is born out of wedlock and called a bastard, the stigma will scar her all her life, the cross she will carry to the end of her life.

Human life is worthless but a nugget of gold found in dirty hole, in a third world country is tagged priceless and adorned with rubies and treated with care.

Who sets the standards?
Man himself.
Who gives him the authority to place value on anything?
Is the world’s standard final?

Should one gauge an object with the same measurement for a human life? Who rapes a child and calls her unworthy? Man.Who is man - is he not but dust himself? What is it you call worthy or place a price on? Is it truly priceless? When you would shatter a human life with no second thought why strive for wealth which is here only for a season?

Are our whims and fancies and every bead of sweat we strive to achieve in the only lifetime we have, worth it?

Will it pave us a road to heaven?

Feb 3, 2010

Nature bows down in worship



Clear blue skies outside my window,
And the sun shines brilliantly in the afternoon skies,
Warming every where the rays fall on.
 The trees sway in the breeze…
a kaleidoscope of green, orange, yellow.. they rustle,
 A mischievous breeze flits amongst the branches
Rustling and frolicking through the leaves.
Making sweet music
Even nature sings of God’s glory
Nature is adorned and praises the God Who created it.




Jesus, we call to You, hear our prayer...

We call on the name of Yahweh,
God Who is Sovereign,
You are the creator of heaven and earth and the universe and the galaxies
You are Lord of all.
This is our prayer,
Look upon us my Lord… lift us up, help us stand
Despite hard times. from hour to hour,
Whatever our circumstance of difficulty is
We ask for grace, strength, patience to love those who crush our spirits
And steal our inner peace.
Give us the Your divine strength in our times of weakness
To stand strong through the storm.
You are our God who is above all our circumstance
And situations
We know whatever we face
You are always with us, never far,
We rely on the name which is above all names,
You are the King of kings
Lord of Lords
You are the alpha,
You are the Omega.
You are the beginning and the end
My Lord Jesus - You are our comfort
Our strength in times of trouble,
Our refuge and fortress…
Fight our battles O Lord, Intervene on our behalf
Bring us victorious in our everyday life battles,
Put those who shame us to shame,
Let not Your children fall into the snares of the enemy.
Rescue us from our circumstance Jesus.
Rescue us, dear Lord.
In Your matchless name we ask, Jesus,
Amen.