Thursday, January 1, 2009
It's 2009 already! When i look back on the happenings of the year... it's amazing. I look back on my life and all that's been going on around me and i can onlyBow down and sayYou are awesome in this place Mighty GodYou are awesome in this place Abba FatherYou are worthy of all praiseTo you our lives we raiseYou Are Awesome In This Place, Mighty GodHe really has been awesome! As every other year, 2008 was full of new experiences. The last few months especially were a struggle, coping with the load of working, studying and serving in the ministry. It was something like i had never faced before. But i am so thankful to the Lord my God for His grace and mercy, that despite my unfaithfulness, He still granted me the strength & willingness, bringing me through this period and He ensured that His work would not be affected. Through the struggles i learnt more about myself as a child of God and i learnt more about how to run & serve in a ministry. And this was all His doing :)And these are things too that i am very, very thankful for. Thankful for my fellow SNP LeadersThankful for Romans, Ivy & Ben, my fellow co-labourers in the ministry and in the officeThankful for the Pastors and their support to meThankful for Brian, for his understanding of how busy i wasThanful for the rest of the staff in the office who always have a way of helping & encouragingThankful for the people in the church who serve quietly but faithfully, year roundThankful for the SNPians & Desire-ians Thankful for our church members who constantly encourage me & support me in my work Thankful for a new experience of being back in school after 6 yearsThankful for my parents who have been quietly supportive of all i doThankful for my sisters, who bring much joy into my life :)Thankful TO THE LORD, WHO HAS GRANTED US THIS GIFT OF SALVATION WHICH ALLOWS/ENABLES US TO BE THANKFUL IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES & THANKFUL TO HIM FOR HIM WHO HAS CARRIED US THROUGH PLENTY - GOOD TIMES & DIFFICULT TIMES.There's plenty more to be thankful for. But then if i listed them down, people would probably give up less than halfway through :pOne thing that recently caught the world and turned it upside down was the economic crash world-wide. Look at how Europe and the States have been affected. It made me really thankful for our government for the certain practices that they had demanded out of our local corporations. Had they not, we would have faced the same credit crunch. People think that life in the States is so good because residents there can just keep on taking loans, delaying payments from their credit card bills and mortgage loans. Look what happened; they borrowed so much money that the banks were left with no more money. And after borrowing so much, they couldn't afford to pay back all they had borrowed, leaving the banks with no hope! I'm generalising here. I'm sure that there are plenty responsible residents in those places. But, it really made me thankful for our government. I hear of my friends, past and present, complaning of the Singapore government (PAP). They wish that there could be more freedom sometimes. They wish there could be a change of leadership because they want something that the current government is not giving them.But they fail to see that the laws that our government has placed are really to protect us. Yes, there may be certain rules that may really need to be changed - i don't know, BUT i do know that it is because of these stringent rules that the government has put in place that today, Singapore stands where it is. Just like how God gave His people laws and commandments to follow. Why? Why did He become a "cosmic killjoy"? He didn't! He placed those laws and commandments because He wanted to protect His people. Protect them from falling into the trap of doing wrong and paying eternal consequences later on. But people, being people, still went ahead and ignored His laws and commandments. That's why we have a world full of sin today, don't we? I think it's pretty similar. The government has placed certain procedures and rules in place to protect us. Yet people complain. It's hard to please everyone i guess. Just think...if our government had been so easy-going with mortgage loans and credit card re-payments...we would be so much worse off now. For that, i am thankful for their wisdom in foresight to look ahead and prevent greater damages.Thank God for all that 2008 has carried and let's move into 2009 seeking to know, trust & obey Him! Woohoo! Thank You Lord!
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