Sunday, 29th October 2017
Rev Daniel Poon
We need to keep our focus on God, like a surfer waiting for a wave, the waves come and go but a true surfer will wait until the biggest wave come and seek the opportunity to do a perfect surf. But how can we not lose the passion while waiting? It’s also like planting a tree, at the beginning it’s only a seed in a soil, we cannot see anything on the surface. But we know the seed is there, as long as we keep on watering it, taking care of it, and waiting patiently, one day it will sprout, and grow into a big tree.
This is faith.
We need faith to hope for something unseen yet better. Rev Daniel reminds us that in order to keep our faith on, we need to tie it to something strong so we will not give up on waiting. In Psalm 31:15, it says, “My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.” David was anointed king, but he did not become the king until a long time later. Not only that, he was also constantly under pursuing by the enemies.
We must believe that our times are in God’s hands. There are too many things happening and we don’t know why. Even when we ask God we don’t seem to always get an answer. Rev Daniel shared with us that for things we have not yet found an answer, we can keep it in a ‘file’, continue to live a life pleasing to God, and one day when we go back to our ‘file’, God may start to open our eyes to see the answers to the many unanswered questions!
Take Joseph for example, a lot of bad things happened to him and he did not know why. But Joseph kept his faith, he didn’t give up in believing God, he continued to live a life pleasing to God, and trusted that his time was in God’s hands. Abraham had everything he needed, but when God asked him to leave he didn’t understand why, yet he followed God’s guidance, because he believed his time was in God’s hands. Moses waited and prepared all his life to lead the Israelite into the Promised Land, he also knew his time was in God’s hands.
1. Choose to Let Go and Believe
For 17 years, Joseph didn’t understand why bad things happened to him, but God intended it for good. Genesis 50:20 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
God’s plan is always better than our plan, in Jeremiah 29:11, it says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
It also says in Romans 8:32, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
God always wants the best for us, and if we understand this, then we will no longer worry about our future and can believe that our times are in God’s hands.
2. To Move On
We all make mistakes, but we should learn from our mistakes and move on. Rev Daniel shared that if we give up then we will really become losers. All these people didn’t give up, they continued to trust in God and hope for the things promised, just as it says in Psalm 37:4-5, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
The famous celebrity, Oprah Winfrey, once said, “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never ever have enough.”
Rev Daniel encouraged us to rely on God and move on, furthermore, we need to have God’s Words and godly fellowship to help us move on because we cannot do it by ourselves. So let us encourage each other, that our times are in God’s hands, be patient, be ready, and when the perfect wave comes we will not miss it!