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| Some kids standing at the classic gate of Bethel Presbyterian Church. |
Today (26 May 2014), we visited Bethel Presbyterian Church and we had a few sharings by Presbyterian youths. Marianne shared about her experience serving in OM South Africa, Jean shared about her yearly mission trips and volunteering with Logos Hope while Andrew shared about his passion for underwater photography and God’s creation. These youths are of the same age group as us, but they seek and pursue God’s purpose and witnessed God’s providence and faithfulness, guiding them through many exciting and also heart-wrenching experiences.
Their testimonies encouraged me in my walk with God as I slowly figure out what is God’s purpose for me at a rather critical point of my life (early twenties). There are many situations when I feel discouraged in my academics or spiritual journey, times when things do not turn out like I wanted it to and yet throughout these low points, God continues to be sovereign and comforts me in amazing ways. A verse that has always encouraged me is Psalm 23:4.
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
What David described here is unthinkable for me to achieve, it is a blessing to take comfort in the Lord through dark and low periods of life. Although I may struggle with this, I take heart in the fact that the Spirit is always with me and continually renews my heart to submit to the Lord with obedience and faith.
Another thing that I will remember dearly from Jean’s sharing is Jehovah Nissi: The Lord is my banner. It is so important to fly the Lord as our banner, proclaiming the good news that we have received and bringing the gospel to others in our local and overseas community. The encouragement that I have received from these sharings will be helpful in my pursuit of environmental studies and service in church, hoping to truly fly the Lord as my banner and point others to Christ.
This also reminded me that we are called to worship God with our lives, “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1b) We often define worship by the segment of a Sunday service whereby we sing hymns or contemporary worship songs. This view should be eradicated as it restricts us to worshipping God only on Sundays. I believe that every Christian should strive to worship God daily, for it is Christ who now lives in us. It is my sincere prayer that Christians in today’s society may live as how Paul affirms in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Lim Min
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