Your Will be Done

When Jesus was struggling with his passion in Gethsemane against the threat of death and separation from His Father (Matt. 26:36-44), he asked his cup be passed from him three times. Nevertheless, He has set an example for all of His followers to honour God The Father’s will instead of ours concerning purpose and mission of our lives.

As Christians, we may still be searching and struggling with our lives’ purposes. Vexation and distraction are, more often than not, encircling our lives at the same time – Your boss might have just spoken to you harshly, one of your closest friends is at odd with you or your family is facing a stressful situation recently. Else, you may be enjoying and embraced by others’ admiration as a result of your recent achievement or success in your career. What are you going to do then? Would you think that your life’s purpose has been fulfilled, or are you at a loss concerning the purpose of your life?

I mentioned last time (article of April 9) that motivation is a powerful force for activity and accomplishment. Indeed, we need a motivation to discover our own life’s purpose. Such a motivation must come from God and His words. In order to do that, I invite you to ponder over the following 3 questions:

1. Are you satisfied, deep inside your heart, with your current situation?


2. Do you believe that God endorses your current life style and endeavour?


3. Is there any direct bearing on the Lord Jesus’ great commission (Matt. 28:19-20) and the great commandment (Mark 12:30-31) as a result of your current pursuit?

If your answers to the foregoing questions are NOT always affirmative, let’s encourage one another with the Apostle John’s teaching (II Jn. 8; RSV): Look to yourselves, that you may not lose what you have worked for (OR we have accomplished as in NASB), but may win a full reward. Yes, the Lord is intending to give every one of us a heavenly reward subsequent to our accomplishment of our own purpose and mission on earth. Let’s all re-affirm the Lord’s prayer (Matt. 6:10), “May your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Amen.

Purpose vs Problem

In my last article, I mentioned that our lives are intertwined with good and bad things. Such a situation calls for our choice and response – we can choose to focus on our purposes or on our problems. I presume most of us would naturally turn to our problems first. If that was the case, let’s remember that God has a purpose for trials and tests (James 1:2-4).

Should you find yourself in a tight spot today, don't just view it as something to endure or bad. Rather, consider it an opportunity for growth. You should use the occasion to examine your heart. Perhaps God wants to teach you something and develop an area of your life, to mould you as a potter does to his clay (Isa. 64:8) or even to give you a blessing in disguise! We need certainly to rely on and trust our Lord, the Father both in His work and purposes.

What about if you just weren't motivated to do anything? Please remember that motivation is a powerful force for activity and accomplishment. More often than not, the real problem in our lives is a lack of motivation. We would then be in trouble certainly. In Ephesians 4 we're given a clear picture of the unity God desires among His people. Eph. 4:15 – 16 teach us to speak the truth in love so that we are to grow up in every way into Christ from whom the whole body is joined and knit together. When each part is working properly, the body of Christ will grow and up-build itself in love.

The foregoing teaching is a vivid reminder and guide to lead us out of our problems. We should talk to our brothers and sisters in truth and love which means sharing our worries and fears with someone we trust and believing in God’s love and care among His people. As Christians, we are joined together by our faith and knit together through love and hope in Christ. By giving a chance to your beloved brothers and sisters to work out their purpose of mutual up-building, God will renew in the spirit of our minds and reveal His purpose for our lives. So let’s cheer up and be united in God’s purposes for us as a holy family.

What Is Driving Your Life?

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren (The Interview), Rick said, “People ask me what is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity.” Most of us live 60 to 100 years on earth, but we are going to spend an infinite number of years in eternity. Yes, our bodies will die one day but our souls will not.

Our earthly lives are just a preparation: God prepares us for His eternal plan. We were made by God and for God and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense. This is perhaps why we often hear grumbles about the dullness or emptiness of living. More often than not, life is filled with problems. The reason for this is that God is more interested in our character than our comfort. The bible clearly tells us that our life goal is to grow in character, in spirituality and in Christ likeness.

For this reason, our lives are intertwined with good and bad things. The important issue is: No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on; and no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes or you can focus on your problems.

If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness and will become overwhelmed by your problems and pains. One of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others. We need to ask ourselves, “Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's love and purposes for my life?”

Dear brothers and sisters, let us pray hard for God’s purposes for our lives and ask Him to empower and bless us to become living testimonies of His wonderful plan for each of us. Amen.

Chance and Opportunity

A chance is available in a situation where you had not expected it or planned for it to happen. For example: As we were in California last October we had a chance to visit the museum. When something is planned and it can also lead on to something else, we would say there is an opportunity. Parents would certainly agree to that if children work hard at school, they have an opportunity to score higher grades.

It is our church’s vision that we will become a praying body, developing our congregation in an understanding and practice of prayer, including individual prayer, family prayer, small group prayer, and congregational prayer. I have invited you in my article of Feb. 26 to encourage one another with this belief: While we wait with the Lord’s patience, we will find great enrichment through His promise.

Jesus promises his followers that the Father will give them another Counselor to be with them for ever [John 14:16]. The Counselor is the Holy Spirit. Have you thought about having the Holy Spirit as your Counselor? Yes, what a wonderful thing it is! However, have you experienced or are you convinced that the Holy Spirit is with you? There is no scientific proof to the aforesaid questions. Nevertheless, Jesus reminds us that the work of the Spirit is just like a blowing wind: The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes [John 3:8 RSV]. Here is the good news – you shall know it if the Holy Spirit has ever worked on you.

In terms of prayer, there is a promise in Rom. 8:26, namely, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. Brothers and sisters, let’s hold firm to these promises and work together towards our vision to become a praying body in the Lord. You must have heard about the 10 p.m. prayer for the church and been invited to join us in this spiritual endeavor. Even you are not always available at 10 p.m., let me encourage you to join our prayer effort at a time convenient to you. If you do that consistently and persistently, I belief it is not just a chance for you to make a difference in our church. Rather, it will be an opportunity for you to experience God’s promise and be transformed and lifted up spiritually as have been with the prophets and apostles.