feeling bad

Needless Pain We Bear

/ Henry Jiang / Leave a comment

My beloved brothers and sisters, have you taken a look at yesterday’s post? The post about meditating on the lyrics of the well known hymn: “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”. Honestly, though we are told to fear God, we should also treat Jesus as our best friend. However, although we understand that Jesus is our best friend, many times, we forget about this because we don’t physically see Jesus. Moreover, it is important to believe when we haven’t seen Jesus physically (John 20:29). In my personal life, I can witness the Holy Spirit existing at every corner of the world. But due to the human instinct of requiring to see something in order to be reminded, we often forget about asking Jesus in times of high stress and struggles, and this again comes back to the sin of self-reliance. However, Joseph Scriven has left behind a poem (later transforming into a hymn) which we should meditate on especially at times of trouble.

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!

Honestly, if we are not praying to God about all our struggles and burdens, we are forfeiting our peace and feeling needless pain. This is the truth. 1 Corinthians 16:11 is one of the Bible verses that back up this claim but it is actually so simple. Also, in Scriven’s poem, the first verse uses the diction “privilege to carry”, and this is very true. We do not even deserve to talk to God face to face because we are such sinners, and that is why the temple veil was torn when Jesus was crucified: Jesus took away our sins so that we are washed to be sinless and made worthy to even talk to God, only when we repent and confess our sins and believe in Jesus Christ.

Therefore my brothers and sisters, have you been forfeiting this privilege? Are there any problems causing you pain and burden that you haven’t taken to Jesus in prayer? Have you ever thought of Jesus as your friend? I challenge you to ponder about these questions and reflect on how you are using these words of wisdom in your daily lives.

 

Lost

/ Henry Jiang / Leave a comment

When things turn for the worse, we often find ourselves lost physically and spiritually. Our self-dependent vision of the world deceives our foresight and forces us to take it upon ourselves. When we find ourselves in situations like this, we need to remember that we need to be committed to the Lord, as it is written:

For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.  2 Chronicles 16:9

In times of destitute, many of us reach a point where it feels like we don’t time for anything. We want alone time for ourselves. Even knowing James 1:2-4, we often try to solve the problem by ourselves, and as a result, it may turn into so-called stress-relieving methods such as eating, drinking, gaming, taking drugs. Doing anything that is not sinful to a proper extent is alright but overdoing things such as over-eating, drinking alcohol until you are completely insane, gaming like crazy is a form of idolatry as you are allowing it to take over your life. After doing things that are not giving glory to God’s name, you would feel a sense of emptiness. Why? This is because the sole purpose of the creation of human beings is to bring Glory to God (Isaiah 43:7). Moreover, the Bible commands us to do everything for God’s glory (1 Corinthians 10:31). Failing to live for your purpose of life will thus bring you the feeling of emptiness when doing things that are useless.

Reading the Book of Ecclesiastes can be very depressing as it talks about how worthless our temporary life on the earth is, but we are reminded constantly in the New Testament of the everlasting eternal life we are to spend with God in heaven. Christ has commanded us to carry the cross with him (Luke 14:27, Matthew 16:24-26). Imagine what Jesus went through, how He was wrongly crucified though He lived a sinless life, the pain and suffering He went through to carry the cross. In addition, think of Jesus’ disciples and other Christians that were tortured and martyred for their faith. Now look back at yourselves. I challenge you, my lovely brothers and sisters, to compare the largest challenges you are currently experiencing with the experiences listed above.