A Coincidence? Or All Part of His Design?

Today was quite an interesting and complementary day for me. Throughout the morning right up to the night, my theme seemed to be centred on this one thing called sacrifice.

I arrived at college in the morning later than usual today. I did not have any lessons, so I went straight to the library and…had a “rest” for an hour or so XD.

When I woke up around 10.00am later, I did not follow my usual routine of college studies/work; after prayer I went straight to tackle a question/passage from my Bible sharing material which I have yet to fully comprehend. Took me a total of…5 hours? over a span of 6 days before I could come up with a satisfactory explanation just for one single question with a passage (just to let you know, the question is related to 2 Corinthians 5:1-10).

When I went for Christian Fellowship (CF) during the afternoon, the pastor message was about standing up for what we believe. He referred to a young man from the Bible who could identify with us as a campus student. That person was Daniel and his 3 friends (you can find them in the book of Daniel).

When Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego first stood up for their beliefs, they were in a manner similar to us; they were in their youth, and were furthering their studies. Being away from their homeland, you could say that they were given a great measure of freedom from the laws and bindings of their nation Israel. Despite this, they resolved not to defile themselves by taking feasting on the king’s table food and wine; instead they opted for vegetables and water. As a result of foregoing even the king’s tastiest banquet, God rewarded them, and the four were healthier than the rest of their peers.

Later, when the king issued a decree that all must prostrate before the golden statue, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were the only ones courageous enough to go against this command, even if it means being thrown into a fiery furnace. And as for Daniel, when a decree was made stating that no one may worship God for 30 days(except the king), he continued to give praise to the Lord even though he knew he would be convicted and thrown into a lions’ den. For that, all these men prospered from the glory of God. They were young, yet stood up risking their lives for what is right and true, and through their actions, made a history throughout the empire.

After CF, I was supposed to meet my project group mates and begin manufacturing our final year project. I even brought my equipment so I can do some rough estimations. In the end, we received word from one of our group mates that we will not be able to use his dad’s place today as he (that group mate) is “out and had forgotten to bring with him the machining equipments”. Ah well, sacrifice.

When I finally arrived home, I only did 30 minutes of study as compared to my usual 2 hours (at least). Could not fully concentrate even then; I was quite sleepy to begin with. I decided to use my remaining time after that for ashort relaxation before I continued to preparing for tonight’s cell group (CG) as well as polishing up my problematic question/passage. Still, I must say I do not lament the limited time I had for my studies; the events of the day was already starting to feel appropriately linked to one another. Besides, I have faith that God will see me through as long as He is put first =).

Before CG, we had Stations of the Cross, a spiritual pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and a reminder of our Lord’s sacrifice for us on the road to Calvary. We then started off this week’s CG, which centered on this particular saint: Anna Wang.

Anna Wang (aged 14) was born in China and lived during time of the Boxer Rebellion, when Christians were heavily persecuted and hunted down. In 1900, she and her stepmother were arrested along with many other Catholics. The captors gave them a choice: if they publicly apostatised, the former believers were to enter the West Room were their lives would be spared; if not, if they chose to remain in the East Room, they were to be executed. Anna’s stepmother chose the former and tried to drag her away to the West Room, but Anna resisted, insisting to believe in God and crying out to Jesus.

The next day, the soldiers led the believers to the execution ground, where Anna witnessed the beheading of several people including children and an infant. When her turn came, the soldier gave her another opportunity to deny her faith and even offered to marry her to a rich family. Yet Anna rejected and endured a cut in her flesh, then her arm before finally beheaded, all the while asked if she would renounce her faith after each strike. The end result saw her family repented, turned to God and became faithful believers.

When it came to sharing (our CG gets everyone to share their thoughts and opinions on the questions/passage), our group had a deep, intellectual and thought-provoking discussion based the topic, which questioned our spirituality whether or not we are truly willing to give up everything – our lives, our family, our memories – as long as we have Christ. Not an easy answer to give, if you truly sit and think about it.

In the end, we only managed up to the second question. The third, in which I spent hours preparing and deciphering – even going as far as to meet up with my current youth minister (and current CG leader) Martin before CG – was skipped due to lack of time. Ah well, sacrifice. Besides, I must say I enjoyed the discussion with my fellow peers.

After ending with a prayer, our group had supper in our host’s house itself, since the aunty had brought back a large amount of food that would spoil if we do not finish it tonight. I ended with my sacrifice for that day: I had to sacrifice my sacrifice of fasting by finishing up 2 packets of nasi lemak, 2 slices of (sponge?) cake, as well as kuih XD.

"When the Other Bows, You Bow Back"

Recently my mum and I had an argument about my behaviour. You see, I had this habit of sitting on the rice pot when I am feeling a little tired (or just plain lazy), and allow the pot to support the weight my frame (weird habit of mine no.1). So one day, I was merely squatting down scooping rice in the barrel when my mum exclaimed, “Don’t sit on the rice pot! Brings bad luck!” and my reaction was, “I don’t believe in bad luck.” XP

Okay, jokes aside though, it was not exactly a hilarious event to begin with. We had not yet gone to the level of shouting, but raised voices were heard throughout the argument. My mum scolded that it was part of our culture, and that I should show respect to all things. She gave an analogy: would I eat from a potty?

My response was based on logical reasoning. First, my action does not place much stress on the pot, as I was lighter than most people my size (and I am quite small in build), and that the pot was of quality (relatively speaking) metal, so chances are unlikely that I went past its yield strength (for more information, you can refer to books on Mechanics of Materials).

Second, in response to my mum’s analogy, how could a person who has already taken his bath, dirty the rice pot and its contents which are around 15cm away from me? Are you saying the germs somehow flow through my pants, onto the wall and into the grains? Come on! In any case, a few seconds more and the rice would be washed thoroughly and then cooked, destroying most of the remaining bacteria in the process. We should worry more of granary weevils for that matter.

Another reason I gave was that culture closes your mind to possibilities. It places a limit and obstructs you from growing. Quite an irony, seeing as I fully support (with valid reasons) the traditions of the Catholic Church – but then again, no where in the Bible do I find that you cannot sit on the cooking pot, or that this in some way is in contrary to God’s teachings.

After that event however, I took some time to reflect upon what had taken place. Being alone quietly in my room, I had come to realise it all bores down to one thing – respect.

One of the 10 Commandments God had laid for us is “Honour thy father and mother, that thou may inherit long life in the land the Lord giveth thee” (Exodus 20:12). Note, that while this is not the greatest of the Commandments which Jesus mentioned (Mark 12:29-31), this is the ONLY Commandment God mentioned which followed up with a blessing.

My mum is someone whom I dearly love. We have our rough times or disagree in certain matters occasionally, but that does not change the fact that she is my mother, and has provided me the best to her capability in many areas of my life. My mum supported whatever interest/field I chose endeavour in (although she did mention last time she does not want to visibly see my rides, else she will have a heart attack and ban me from future rides XD), and gave me a huge measure of freedom over my life. Most of the advice she gives is the advice of a mother: born of care, sound from experience, taught in patience and given with love. That said, I had no reason not to honour her orders.

When I look back, I knew what she said was true, and had a practical reasoning to it. To me, sitting on a rice pot may be a norm, but had others seen me like this, likely this would leave a negative impression and perception on them. To anyone whom is viewing this, isn’t that RIGHT? :). If you do, I cannot blame you – after all, sitting on a rice pot will look like I am shitting on the rice pot, aye?

My mum also taught me, both in words and actions, that appliances perform better if you treat them with respect and care. I myself will testify and say this: respect the sword and the sword will respect you. If you do not care for and maintain your instruments, how could you expect it to last a long time?

In comparison, I can clearly see the contrast between my dad’s and my mum’s car respectively. A Citroen BX, it was a powerful vehicle during its time, but my dad hardly (if ever) sends it for maintenance unless some part ceased functioning. My mum on the other hand, always sends her previous Nissan Sunny (now using an Iswara; the Nissan was stolen) for maintenance every 2-3 months, and was even commented she was overdoing it. The results? For my dad’s car, it occasionally suffers a breakdown, is hot and stuffy with the air con full blast, leaks frequently, uses lots of energy, jerky clutch…you get the picture. In my mum’s case, it performs better than we first bought the car. Yes, better. I kid you not.

Lastly, how can I rightly expect others to honour mine, if I do not uphold the same for others? As they say, what goes around comes around. Jesus Himself set an example in this. In Luke 2:41-51, even though He was the Son of God and told his parents, “I must be in My Father’s house”, yet he “went down with them, returning to Nazareth, was subject to them.” During His baptism in Matthew 3:13-17, He replied to an objecting John the Baptist, “Let it be like that for now that we may fulfil the right order.” (notice that only then after did the Father approved Him with signs from Heaven) And then later, Jesus mentioned during His sermon on the mount, “Do not think I have come to remove the Law and the Prophets. I have not come to remove but to fulfil them.” (Matthew 5:17) Through these (and more), Jesus proved He did not set aside traditions or protocol; in fact He shows that I am to offer my respect to all, especially my elders.

And so! After that event, I have decided cut that habit of mine concerning the rice pot. A bit of an inconvenience to me especially after a gruelling day, but the road to perfection is not made to be a breeze is it? Anyway, a good step towards building up my character in conjunction with the start of the Lenten season. God has such great timing for my resolution plans man; He knows and sets the best dates. Gotta surrender it all to Him to plan these (and all my other) events. Kudos to the Trinity!

RFG always.