Waiting …Hoping … :( or :) ?

Waiting can be daunting. Even now, I am still anxiously waiting.

I wait because I believe there is hope. Otherwise, there is no point waiting.

You see, I had ordered some crystal oscillators on 3 September 2009 for my project which must be delivered on 8 January 2010. At first, the supplier confirmed his delivery date to be November 27. Then as the day came and gone, I was told that it’s going to be December 18. So there was still hope. Unfortunately, it turned out to be false hope. They delayed the delivery date to 19 February 2010. This set me wondering, is this finally going to be real?

A week before Lunar New Year (14 Feb), I emailed them. Sadly, it was another false hope and they shifted the new date to be the first week of March. I began to get anxious and worried.

And I am still waiting and hoping, hoping and waiting. In the midst of all this kan-chong (anxiousness), I was also praying and seeking God for wisdom. But HE chooses not to speak – silence.

I took leave on 12 Feb and was at the Singapore Bible College Library. As I was browsing through the books for only a short while, one particularly book caught my attention.

WAITING – Finding hope when God seems silent

Yep, this is the book I have read during the last 4 days of this holiday period. Is this what the Almighty is directing me to do? If Abraham has to wait for 25 years to see his child born (at the age of 100!), what does waiting mean to me?

Then yesterday’s devotion from Our Daily Bread passage was on Psalm 62. I was reading from my New Revised Standard Version and verse 5 & 6 just jumped out of the text:

For God alone, my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.


Waits … in silence … hope is from him …He alone … not be shaken.

Mere coincidence?? This verse speaks volume to me today.

Roger, over!!

Book Reflection – Life of the Beloved

I don’t quite fully comprehend the significance of the Lord Supper. Some call it the Holy Communion or Eucharist.

Until I read this book …

I have just read this book –Life of the beloved by Henri Nouwen.

It is a very short book, about 119 pages but with a very insightful way of explaining how a person should live in this world.

Henri use four words to describe how life with the Holy Spirit is like – Taken, Blessed, Broken and Given. We may be familiar with this verse every time we partake the Lord’s Supper: (Lk 22:19)

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

Taken
Life with God began when He take us to be His beloved. The movement of the Spirit of Love began when we are taken into His Kingdom. It is important for a Christian to be constantly aware that He is child of God. Our identity is in Christ, not what we do, not how successful we are; not how many medals we won, not how many scholarships we attained. …

Blessed
To be in His Kingdom is being blessed. We then in turn now bless others. Start by exercising gratitude in life. Always give thanks and say “thank you” as an expression of that blessing.

Broken
Although we are in Christ, we are still in this world but not of this world. Suffering and pain are part of this world. That is what broken means. Christ also lived in this world, suffered and experienced the broken life. Be in touch with the common and suffering people, empathize and be with them.

Given
Having experienced the brokenness within and without, we are then the salt and light of the world. We give the love of Christ. We give the light and hope to the hopeless.


Each time you take the Lord Supper, remember these 4 words – Taken, Blessed, Broken, Given.