Really. It’s been too long a while since i’ve written anything here. Ever since i was enlisted, there’s been too many things vying for my attention that i dont have time to sort out my thoughts like this. Most thoughts are sorted out on paper now, but i guess certain issues require more attention than others.
Here’s the issue which i think is most significant and worth special mention: everything in life stems from the simple, untainted love relationship with God. Everytime i’m met with this issue, i get a radical shift in mindset/attitude/perspective about the things around. And so, i’m met with this again. This issue originated from a thought that came from reading Miracles by C.S. Lewis.
The question came as such, “Why would God trouble to think his perfectly rational thoughts through us, who are not only prone to misinterpreting them, but also are easily tend to drift from any revelation soon after?” It is true. One has to admit that we go over some lessons again and again. Lessons about grace, about humility, about worship, about leading, about serving, about relating to others, about holy living… the list is not exhaustive. The fact is quite clear: as humans, we tend to fail at fixing our eyes on the Truth. And we tend to fail at fixing our eyes on just that simple, untainted relationship with God; we bring too many of our weaknesses and bad decisions into the picture.
The next question in line is “Does that mean we are failures as humans? Shouldn’t we gravitate towards that simple relationship with God after we have accepted Christ into our lives?” One verse that comes to mind is 2 Corinthians 5:17 >>> Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! <<< If we have really been redeemed, why do we keep wandering and not travel along the highway towards Christ? Why is the intrinsic change not permanent? I would like to challenge this mindset. It is easy to mistake an external failing for an innate misalignment; it is easy to look upon ourselves and failures and forever live in the shadow of the old person, despite having received a new nature. It is a lie that the evil one can trap us with, changing a conviction to a condemnation; we always forget to keep our relationship with God simple as humans, but by no means should we dwell on this mistake.
However, although we have received the revelation that we must keep our relationship with God simple, we must also make the effort to run towards Christ. It is a two-way growth process. Many of us mistake that upon receiving salvation, the story ends there. It doesn’t. Growth is something we will be undergoing this whole life; some lessons may have to be revisited not because we have (, using a not-so-appropriate term for studying,) failed the module previously, but because we can’t possibly keep our minds on every single aspect of our lives at any one point in time (except through living and walking with Christ). It was once said that sometimes walking with God will make us remove all the unimportant things in our lives; we live more simply. And personally, i think that the above saying is very closely linked to the growth process that we undergo in life. As we learn to walk with God day by day, we grow into that simple relationship with God and from there our lives will becomes less complicated and cluttered.
Nevertheless, i believe we should not confuse a call to live a simple relationship with God with pursuing a simple lifestyle. Let me explain. The sole purpose we were made for is to have a simple, untainted love relationship with God. However, let us not, in our zeal, distort that purpose into a life goal where we seek to remove things from our lives in a bid to live simply. Of course, it is much easier to, for example, not watch tv (because we feel that since we have fulfilment in Christ, there is no need for such entertainment), than to really pursue a relationship with Christ. The former is an act that, without the right focus, becomes an act that glorfies so-called not living in the world; the latter fixates our lifestyle on our life’s purpose alone.
Definitely, many of us would find more comfort and security in the former way of living (ie, living through certain acts that slowly lose their true meaning over time). It is certainly easier to do so and it eliminates the feeling of uncertainty of having to look for/search for God day by day in every thing that we do. Personally, i do feel uncertainty when merely seeking God day after day instead of having broad directions in life or dictating certain actions. Cos sometimes i wonder what direction i should take in certain things, and he is silent. That is the uncertainty i’m willing to face and i hope that i will continue to focus on God and be grounded in the word. I believe that a simple relationship with God, with all the uncertainty and challenges, is worth it. And from there, within that relationship, one will find the answers in life, the ways to live, the changes that one hopes to make, and the strength and faith in all circumstances.
Well, with all that’s been said. Back to the first question that sparked all these thoughts in me, “Why would God trouble to think his perfectly rational thoughts through us, who are not only prone to misinterpreting them, but also are easily tend to drift from any revelation soon after?” Hmmm. So many more questions left unanswered…
God bless!
