Spring pokes its head...

Judging by the crazy winds and the cold weather outside, you might not notice it, but never fear!! Summer is coming!

Don't believe me??.. Here are a few hints of it I noticed on my walk today -

The coming of spring always makes me happy because it reminds me of three things:

1. There is an end to winter:
Even through the tough times you are going through, there is an end in sight. I can't promise you whether it will be healing in this life or whether you will have to wait in Heaven, but God has set a time for His return when He will take us home to be with Him forever in a land with no pain, sickness or tears.

2. There is beauty in the wait:
Just as these gorgeous spring flowers remind us that summer and good days are ahead, our lives and our attitudes should remind others that Jesus is coming.

3. There can be joy despite winter because of the truth of summer:
Even though things appear gloomy and we are unwell with no tangible end in sight, we can be joyful because we know that God has made a home for us in heaven. It is coming.. It is not question of whether but when!

So, lift up your heads, like these beautiful daisies in my garden, and keep your eyes fixed on God.

Why? Winter is almost at an end and Summer is coming!

The Best is Yet to Come

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

At a first glance of reading this, you might think whether this writer really knew much about suffering. How can his troubles be light and momentary, while mine are hard and never ending? If only he had seen my life – I am endlessly sick, I have no time for family or friends, I can’t work….  

Brother! Sister! Let me tell you - Paul, a passionate follower of Jesus, wrote this passage and he, by no means, had an ‘easy’ life. In 2 Corinthians 11:24, we read that five times Paul received forty lashes, three times he was beaten with rods, once stoned, three times shipwrecked and constantly in danger at sea and from bandits, countrymen, Gentiles and false brothers.  He went long periods without sleep, battling hunger, thirst and cold, all whilst facing the  daily pressure of his concern for all the churches.

That’s a long list; so why in the world would Paul think that these troubles were “light” and “momentary”. Was he delusional? Did he love being persecuted? Did he enjoy being shamed? Of course not! He was hurt by the pain he faced, just like we are.

So if that’s not the case, maybe, we should re-read verse 17.  “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Paul appears to be making a comparison between his troubles and the eternal glory we have in Christ.  What he is trying to say is that all these sufferings and struggles, as horrible and painful as they are, are nothing when compared to our inheritance in Christ. If these are our troubles, our joy in heaven will be that much greater!

Earlier in 2 Corinthians, in chapter 4, verse 14, Paul reminds us that God, who raised Jesus from the dead, will also raise us to be with Him and share in the above inheritance.  In 1 Peter 1:3-5, Peter, another passionate follower of Jesus, tells us about the glorious inheritance that awaits us because of Jesus – an inheritance that will never perish, spoil or fade. This is our joy, this is our inheritance – being adopted into God’s family and living with him forever. No harm or suffering in this world could compare to this joy that will be ours.

Does that seem a little incredulous?  Do you find that hard to believe?

Think of this – A woman in labour goes through unimaginable pain to have her child. This could take hours or even days. Childbirth has been described as one of the world’s most painful experiences; still, women go through this willingly all the time. Why?

Because of that moment - the moment when the nurse hands over the baby, when she holds him/her in her arms for the first time; she knows that it’s worth it. All the pain, hurt and suffering she went through cannot be compared to the joy, honour and the privilege of being a mother to that beautiful baby. It will be the same, if not more, with us when we go to heaven. I am sure that there will not be a soul in heaven who does not think that all of life’s suffering, were light and momentary compared to the eternal glory they then have.

Friends! What are your troubles? What causes you pain? Is it unemployment sickness, poverty, hunger or thirst? 

Do not lose heart. If you believe in Jesus and accept His death in your place, your eternal glory awaits you, because of Jesus’ sacrifice for you. 

Remember your troubles are temporary since your eternal life with Jesus will last forever and forever. Hold on to your inheritance, in faith, which is freely given to you through Jesus Christ.

This post is adapted from my contributions to EbenDavid Ministries & Charities newsletter. 

Longing for God, not just his house

Over the past couple of months, I've been reading through the Book of Isaiah and it has given me great joy to see all that Isaiah prophesied about the coming Messiah, being fulfilled perfectly in Jesus.
But it really made me wonder: why did Jews persistently believe that Jesus was not the one who Isaiah was referring to? How did they manage to miss it?

To understand why, I think we need to put ourselves in the shoes of Jews of Jesus' time:
1. They had waited a long time for their Messiah to arrive. They had heard prophecies from Isaiah, from Jeremiah and from so many other prophets about who he was going to be, and they had waited for him for centuries.
2. They had suffered greatly. Their wait was not a comfortable, joyous one. They had suffered war, exile and enemy rulers, finally culminating in the rule of Caesar & the Roman empire in Jesus' time.
3. They were desperate for freedom, for Israel to be restored to all its former glory. And no doubt, the Messiah was promised to bring God's people together under God's rule again, which we, post-Jesus Christians, are able to see fulfilled in part spiritually and will be fulfilled completely, when Jesus returns and takes us to be with him & God for eternity.
When Jesus came to the Jews, he did not fit their expectations of Him. Jesus did not overthrow the Roman empire. Instead, he taught and then, he died. To these Jews, to believe in Jesus, as Messiah, would have meant accepting another long, arduous wait to see God's people restored fully to Himself. And for some of them, it was too much to face; too hard to believe it was true.

I wonder if we are much different these days. As post-Jesus-Christians struggling with chronic illness, we too have waited for what seems like a long time to be free from the bondage of our illnesses. We too have suffered greatly, each enduring and carrying the weight of our poor health and relational isolation. We too are desperate to be restored to fullness, to finally be physically free to be who God made us to be. Unfortunately, this means that we too are in danger of forgetting who God is and has revealed himself to be now.

Friends, do you ever find yourself day dreaming about heaven, about that moment when you'll receive your resurrection body and finally know what it is like to breathe/walk/worship/etc without pain? I'm definitely not saying that this is an evil thing to do, but consider this: If you could have heaven right now, with no sickness, pain and a fully restored body, with all the friends you've ever had on earth and all the food and activities you've ever liked/enjoyed and all the natural beauties you've ever seen and no human conflicts or disasters, could you be satisfied with this heaven if God was not there? 

I think as Christians, and even more so as Christians who battle life-long chronic illness, we need to be ever vigilant & prayerful to ensure we do not forget what heaven is truly about; what Jesus actually accomplished for us on the cross - ie. a restored relationship with God and what we will receive in heaven - a life forever walking with our God.


God, thank you that Jesus is the Messiah that you spoke of, through the prophets. Thank you that because He died and rose from the dead, that our relationship with you is restored & we can be your sons & daughters again. Please help us never stop longing for the day when you fully restore this world. But as we look forward to that day when Jesus returns and calls us to heaven, help us long to spend eternity with You, and not just with your great gifts that are ours in Christ.