FOUNTAIN IN MILAN

Saturday , August 23, 2008

11:19:23 AM

One of the best moments for me to meditate is when I’m walking along the sidewalks, with all these skyscrapers on the side and most especially when I’m on the train going to work, best when I’m going home.

In one of those silent solitudes amidst the passengers, I came across the story of the prophet Moses in the second book of the Old Testament. It was when he went up the blazing mountain for forty days and nights, pleading for the lives of the Israelites. The great I Am was again furious, willing the annihilate the stubborn nation. Who can blame the Divine? We was insulted. The All Sovereign was replaced by a mineral from the earth up in the throne. And it was an act of unfaithfulness. There was no sign of belief. No convictions. No hope. Without faith, one can never please the Master.

The idol or to be more specific the golden calf can sometimes represent the things we do instead of waiting for God to move in His preferred hour, week, season or year. He has now been replaced by the man we know is not His will for us. We simply choose him instead of believing God is in heaven, preparing the right setting and place for you to meet the best. Actually, knowing God’s powerful nature, He has already reserved that seat for you in that coffee shop, or that role in a musical play, or that slot in the line towards to cashier for you to meet that “best” other half of you. He has already introduced you to the pastor who will place you in that cell group where the One is the leader.

But since flesh incites haste and impatience, we simply choose (in all convenience), to fabricate what we want in our time, in the way we want the world to be in our eyes. Of course, we wanted life to fit the good life we thought we deserve. The great question is, do we deserve the best? What makes us think we deserve it? What honorable and selfless act has been executed by our hearts that we demand the Holy One to give us what we want? Instead we choose our own way, faithless, doubting our Father in Heaven his unfathomable judgment. Sometimes, we are skeptic if He knows what we really want, or if He is willing and able to do it for us. But again, we know He is indeed willing and most of all able. We just don’t know how to wait, silently. Faith is asking our Father who He is. Faith is believing we need to know Him. He is the very beginning of everything. Bridging the gap through the Blood which became the ransom for our freedom is stepping in faith. Through the years of exploring the Living Word, God by means of hurtful lessons and painful subjects taught me to have faith, even when my senses can no longer see and find reasons to. But believing in my heart that He Exists and that He purely loves me is more than enough basis to stop me from creating a golden calf to worship. The Lord already died for me. The blood of the Holy King already flowed out from His flesh, through the nails down the wood and to the earth to permeate my flesh to reach and save my soul and breathe life to my spirit. Holy and powerful. Still, He loves us so much that He will wait until we realize this. He would endlessly send prophets and mailmen who carry His message that He is alive and is offering an infinite covenant to be our lifetime refuge and security. And most of all be the passionate lover of our souls. We create idols for ourselves when we get tired of waiting for Him to answer our petitions. We choose to worship other ideas and principles which are not from the depths of His wisdom. We then decide to have it our own way, cast the golden jewelry and refine it to make for ourselves hoax tangible illusions for the answers we want to see and hear immediately… and in our time. At that point when we are no longer sure of what we hoped for and are not being certain of what we do not see, then we lose. And most of all, we offended God. Seems as if His pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night do not amount to anything. Most of all, we are ignoring the priceless flesh and blood shed up hill on a cross. Silently, we don’t need to utter these words, but our actions are declaring, “Father, it is not enough”. He hears it. Every sigh, every disbelief and doubt reaches this throne. When He does, He gets furious. But knowing God and His compassionate heart, He will choose to wait. Again, He will patiently send gentle reminders hoping to touch our souls so that we will see Him again as He His… powerful, holy and most of all, a loving Father.

He has all the reasons to erase the Israelites generation and replace them with a new breed of grateful hearts. But His Word is His bond. He promised the great ancestors, then He will stick to their covenant.

What make Him love us like this? As for me, my convictions led me to this answer. In my heart, all I know is that Our Father God in Heaven is an ever-loving Father. This is who He really is. There is not even a drop of evil in Him. In Him, there is no darkness at all. He is glorious and divine. Powerful yet humble and with a lowly heart.

It took forty years for the Israelites to reach their Promised Land. The Almighty tested their faithfulness as well as prepared them for battle. There were a lot of slips. A lot of complaints and mischief. Some even felt betrayed and abandoned. They find reasons to blame God for everything. And as difficult as it is to admit, we do that sometimes. We have a lot of slips from our faith. When we are hurt, injured and broken we complain and question this great misfortune. Troubled hearts are fragile, they easily break. But God can restore everything. For He created all things, and all things existed because of His mighty words. We can raise the argument that Israelites can be forgiven of disbelief since Jesus was not born yet. But their nation’s history has all the evidence that One Great Divine Powerful Being does exist. Seas were open, plagues were lifted, fire fell down from beyond heavens. Who would dare ask if He exists?

Faith is believing beyond God’s ability and purpose. When the great king of Persia summoned the three prayerful wise men and ordered them to worship the idol he established for himself to worship, the three boldly refused. Faith gives us the freedom to adamantly stand up to what God has placed in our hearts. It would take a man full of faith to repudiate the king’s order. They did. Their prayerful lives made them as such. Prayers conceal us from unfaithfulness. It builds thick walls to shield us from fear. It stands as our defense from arrows of doubts. It establishes our knowledge and covenant with the Almighty. Their faith even gave them the wisdom to witness and prove God is God, and there is none like Him. They poignantly proclaimed that even if God will not save them, they will still not bow down and worship the idol. Such deep faith. Deep convictions. Their words sprang life and consumed the king’s delusion. Faith brings fire. It erases false apprehensions. They were able to pronounce that even if God will not deliver them from death on earth, nothing will separate them from their loyalty to the Only King. The three wise men did not see God in their lifetime, but they believed God existed even before time. Their great enactment of faith would make us ask ourselves this question…. What made them so fearlessly loyal that even death could not steal their faith? I deeply believe it is their relationship and experience with God. They knew who God is. They have a deep understanding and relationship with the God they serve. They prayed incessantly. That was after all the reason they stood in the kings great court. Faith does not only move mountains, it changes lives. They proclaimed their faith, and it made the king bow down to their God instead. Faith turns everything around. Perchance, they even thought that what they will be doing does not actually measure to what God has given them. Love and peace which transcends all rationalization. They love Him even if they have not seen Him. Faith.

I pray that each of us will have faith that would change how we see the world. Faith that lingers and remains true to the Great One – Jesus Christ who deserves our loyalty and steadfast love.

Be glorified my Father God in Heaven.

Let your will be done on this earth, as it is in Heaven.