A Sunday Message by brother Philip.
I heard this in the Sunday sermon. The pastor said that there are many facts in life. These facts have no meaning, until we attach meaning onto it. No doubt, God created and maintains the Universe, and everything happens to fulfill His Will. Hence the meaning we attach to the happenings in life must be the same as God's purpose for that event. The results of a deviated, selfish, non-theological meaning given to a fact will heap tragedies in life. Many believe in demons, the forces of evil. They'll do everything they can to blur one's perception towards the purpose of God.
According to the Bible, God is all knowing. He knows what's best for us. Hence even if the world thinks a particular event is a mishap, we must not be ambivalent in identifying the greater good. How can we appreciate life if there is no death? How can we appreciate silence if there is no noise? How can we live according to the law when we have never experience war? How can we be humane when we never experience suffering?
The 'good and prosperity' overly emphasized by the Chinese culture, of the fantasies of wealth and power falling down from the sky is not Christian. Chinese culture mainly defines all 'calamities' as karma or bad luck, that all things that bring pain is bad, that we must avoid loss at all costs, and hasten the passing of disasters.
It is calamities that bring the greatest good! No one loses anything with the right meaning! The Christian should understand that everything is good. Because everything comes from God, and God is Good. When we give a Godly meaning to facts, we reap benefits. When we give a human meaning to facts, we gain only sorrow.
When the pastor's mother died on the spot in a car crash recently, his family and friends said things like 'Why did such a disaster happened to such a good lady?' 'Such bad luck!' 'I hope things like this will not happen in my family.'
But the pastor prayed and studied the Bible to understand God's Will. He noticed that even worse things can happen. He thought his mother had all her limbs torn off, evencontemplating a possible decapitation. But the lady in her fifties only suffered a fatal concussion. Things can always get even worse. The pastor even became grateful to God because nothing worse happened. He became even grateful that the accident did not happen last year, before his mother believed in Christ. He was glad that his mother is in Heaven because she accepted Christ right before her departure.
The pastor then said 'Prayer and reading the Bible, is an activity that trains one to give the correct meaning to the facts in life.'
"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."
(Rom 5:1-5)
Look towards the bright side of things. Invest all one's effort, not just to avoid or to solve problems, but to go through hell and back with blessings in hand, extracting the treasures hidden within the thorns! What's the use of lingering in negativity? Even if the world is shouting 'God! We are in BIGGGGGGGGG trouble and we're all gonna die!!!' True Christians will shout 'Trouble! We have a BIGGGGGGGG God and you're going down!!!'
