Speeding

Sigh... got a speeding ticket on my way back from a job site today. It was a downhill road, and the speed limit was reduced from 80km/h to 60km/h somewhere in the middle.  Before noticing that, I got radar-gunned, pulled over by a police officer, and received a speeding ticket saying that I was going at 82km/h in a 60km/h zone! That's a fine of $107.50 plus 3 demerit points!  :(

I admit I was at fault for not paying attention.  Hoping that the judge would go easy on the fine, it seems that going for a trial is my only option......

By Faith

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

~Hebrew 11:6~

The sermon by Dr. Brian Stiller today had given me a refreshed understanding on this verse. I’ve always had this concept: in order to please God, we should always do this and do that, and it always involves seeking God’s will and taking actions. I almost missed the point that God will also be pleased with us by having faith in Him. However, I found it hard to understand in the first place, but Dr. Stiller had illustrated this point clearly with an example – when Dr. Stiller was having fun with his grandson by throwing him up in the air and catching him when he fell down, he had such a great joy in his heart by seeing that his grandson had faith in him that he would catch him safely! The little baby trusted him totally, without any worries, and was having lots of fun! In the same way, it reminds me that God would be pleased with us if we put our trust and faith in Him, because He cares so much about us and wants us to be able to count on Him, and have “fun” (or joy) in our lives instead of putting all the burden and worries on our own shoulders.

However, how can I have faith in God? It is something easier to say than put into practice. Well, here is another evidence of God’s great timing – it just happened that our fellowship had group devotion on Psalms 42 last Friday, and I had deep thoughts on verses 5 and 11. Repeatedly, it says:

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

~Psalms 42: 5 &11~

I think... if I can still find strength to praise God during hardships, my worries will no longer occupy my heart, as it will be filled with peace! By focusing more on the greatness of our Lord and less on my own problems, I would still be able to praise God even in downfalls, and I would have less of worries, because in some ways, I believe that God’s grace is sufficient to carry me through. I think today’s sermon has given me a very good reminder and conclusion to my thoughts on Psalms 42. To please God (one of our life goals as a Christian), I should first learn to put my trust in Him more, and the end results would be:

1. more joy and less worries within my heart, and

2. God becomes more pleased!

May this reminder continues to keep me from relying on my own strength and learn to rely more on God!

安歇甦醒以後

耶和華是我的牧者．我必不至缺乏。

他使我躺臥在青草地上、領我在可安歇的水邊。

他使我的靈魂甦醒、為自己的名引導我走義路。

~ 詩 篇23：1-3 ~

每次讀這段詩篇時，總是帶給我極大的安慰；尤其在過去的十年，在工作以上再抽時間準備 P.Eng. 的考試實在叫我有點吃不消，曾經多次想半途放棄！然而，這段經文總是有意無意的在我腦海中浮現，讓我繃緊的神經得到舒緩，給了我不少回氣的空間，叫我逐漸麻木和昏睡的心靈多次得以甦醒。再加上太太一次又一次的鼓勵，總算撐了過去，上月底終於完成最後一科的technical exam了!

再讀這段詩篇時，心情已完全不一樣；雖然工作依然繁重，少了考試的壓力實在使我的擔子輕省不少，更讓我在這段經文中注意到：神除了給予我們可安歇的空間，叫我們從迷失中甦醒過來外，祂更要「為自己的名引導我走義路」。關啟文在「安歇與甦醒」一文中有很好的提醒：

「當我們心靈甦醒過來，或許會發覺自己在昏睡時已經迷失方向，不知走到哪裡了。如聖經所說：「我們都如羊走迷、各人偏行己路。」（賽53：6）一個真正甦醒的靈魂，會甘心走神所引導的路，也明白這是為了神的名，而不是他個人的名。他知道生命是為了神的榮耀，而不是他的舒適。當他願意為神的名走神的路，他會一無所缺。正如牧羊人比羊更凊楚那裡可找到青草和水，同樣，只有上帝真正知道我們走甚麼路才可找到生命的滿足。原來，神的榮耀同時也是我們生命的成全。」

我想，從前確實花了很多時間在準備考試的事情上，以至錯過了很多裝備自己的機會，看來，現在是時候急起直追，好使自己能更有力走上這條「義路」。四年前從台灣搜羅了一大堆的屬靈書籍至今仍是漂漂亮亮的存放在書架上，現在也應該好好讀一下了。畢竟，書是用來讀，不是用來放著好看的！