Hoping in God and looking to Jesus

First things first, I have been living my life my way, instead of God’s way.

Second, I knew I was doing things wrongly, and I needed to return to God. I ‘tried’ but always ended up turning away anyway.

Third, from the recent lessons on Isaiah, I learnt that ‘hope in God never disappoints’. At the same time, I have taken baby steps towards Him, by following a copy of ODJ I picked up in church. I told myself that even if I was not very focused or interested, I must make at least spend some time reading and even thinking about God. It was better than not doing it at all. This is also another lesson learnt from BSF that we must intentionally make time for God, even if we knew that God would break through to us in His own way.

So, I assumed the stance of waiting. Waiting for God to bring me back to Him. Because I knew that if I depended on my own strength and own ways, I would simply tire myself anyway and fall away again.

Then, on Sunday, I think I received comfort and reassurance from the Lord during worship!

We sung:

You did not wait for me – to draw near to You
But You clothed Yourself with frail humanity
You did not wait for me – to cry out to You
But You let me hear Your voice calling me

I was reminded that, in a way, half of my wait for God was already accomplished – in Jesus! True, we can still ‘wait’ for God to work in our lives now, but it is also true that Jesus had come. And this is recorded in the Bible, to which we have easy access. Even though there are times that we find it hard to listen or see the invisible God, we always have the Bible in our hands (and smartphones) and we can open it and read it.

Two things I think God told me:

• As I wait for God, I may have to wait for awhile, and I may not fully understand what God has in plan for me, but for now, I can definitely find God in His Word.
• As I wait for God, I may still be lost about what to do. So I can look to Jesus as the best example!

In light of this, today’s ODJ session for me was timely as it spoke about unity and humility among believers, where Paul reminded the people to ultimately look to Jesus as the example (Philippians 2:1-11).

So, I am waiting with hope in God which will never disappoint. And perhaps with less sense of being lost, because I am reminded to look to Jesus.

(Anyway, something like a disclaimer, I am not often this hopeful and it is always difficult! It is very likely that right after I blog this, I go back to my ‘wilful ways’. Ugh.

So… only by God’s grace and mercy!!!)