Seek First '_____'

In August, it had been a few months for us in the US and we thought it’s a good time to buy a car. Till then, we had been walking to nearby stores; sometimes, we took the less frequent public transport; most times, kind-hearted friends offered us rides – especially for Danny to commute to his workplace. We got the money ready for the car and started looking for cars within our budget and as per our requirements. We searched the internet, told friends. All along, we knew in our hearts that God would provide the right vehicle at the right time. But we need to “do our part”, right?

During the process, we realised that ‘car’ was all that we were talking and thinking about. “How about this one... or that?” It’s quite true that we needed a car. We can’t keep asking people for a favour every day. But had we forgotten to just trust in God and be still? We both knew that’s what God was asking us to do at that time. Oh come on, we can’t literally “be still” in this case, can we? We need to do some search and research. We went ahead and did. Finally, one deal worked out for us – well, almost. We proceeded to negotiate with the seller. We were going to make the payment, when we realised that this was fraudulent. Thank God, we were stopped at the right time. It wouldn’t have taken us too long to have paid all the money we had at that time and kept waiting for the car forever!

After we recovered from the shock, now again, time to resume our car hunt. But this time, God’s Word was crystal clear – the very familiar verse, “But seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33) ministered to me. From the previous verses, we know that ‘all these things’ refers to our physical and immediate needs. Like most promises in the Bible have a command, this one does too. We need to seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness. In our case, we decided to stop looking for cars, because that was occupying too much of space in our minds. That was a difficult step. We had to hold each other accountable on that. The other thing was to focus our minds on God, serving Him and praying for those who have not yet seen the Light. What about the car? We had learned the hard way to ‘be still’.

After a few days, when we got an opportunity to testify about God, Danny shared about how God had stopped us from being a victim of fraud. One person who was listening to it came and spoke to us later saying that he knows a good car dealer and he can help us get a car! Later that week, he took us to the car dealer and helped us decide on a car that suits our requirements. We drove back home in that car and we’ve been using it for the last few months.

At times, it’s hard to be still and wait for God’s timing and ways. But when we do, we can only exclaim in wonder at the way He works! I realised that God is able to work as much as we trust Him with our lives. God has put us on earth on His mission – that is, to seek His kingdom. When we do that, He takes care of all our physical needs. Yes, literally.

When an employer asks its employee to travel on business, the employer takes care of all his expenses. All he has to be concerned about is the task at hand. He would be a fool to spend all his time trying to meet his expenses and neglect his task. But, too often, isn’t that how we live? We spend all our time and effort in meeting our immediate needs that we forget about the greater purpose for our life on earth. The danger is that the worries of this life can go to the extent of choking the Word of God! “The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.” (Matthew 13:22) Let us be careful to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our race.

“... That They May Be One”

Before Danny and I moved to the US, one of the things we prayed for is that we would get to be part of a “good” church. I remember someone asking us if we plan to go to an ‘Indian church’ or a ‘white church’. We said we were ready to go just wherever the Lord leads us. Of course, at that point, we didn’t really know what those titles meant. On our first Sunday in the United States, we googled for the nearest church and we went there. We walked about 20 minutes and reached Grace Outreach Center, a non-denominational, multi-cultural church. We could actually see people from different nations and different cultures attending church and also serving in the church. Though we hardly saw Indians that day, we were so comfortable there. Nobody stared at us as strangers, instead so many of them welcomed us warmly to the church.

Now, as we have become members of Grace Outreach Center and as we get to know more people personally, we get asked a lot of questions about our culture and our faith in Christ. But at the end of our conversation, we realise that we can identify with each other because we share this unique relationship with Christ. Our skin colour is different; we have cultural differences; we think differently, but because we are washed by the blood of Jesus, we have the same purpose; we have the same values and priorities. It’s a beautiful picture of the Body of Christ that people from different nations come together to worship Him. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

I believe this is just a small glimpse of what heaven will be like, when nations and tribes stand in God’s Presence in unison. “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9)

Across the globe, God speaks to His people through His powerful, unchanging Word. It amazes me to think that God’s Word, which was written centuries ago, is still relevant to everyone, irrespective of culture, nation and time period.

On the other hand, it pains me to see ‘exclusive churches’. We have created divisions in the Church for the sake of denominations, nationalities, languages and even castes (at least the caste doesn’t feature in the name of the church)! ‘Korean church’ or ‘African church’ or ‘Indian church’, for example, is an oxymoron! In a way, isn’t that racism within the Church? A church is supposed to be inclusive of everyone. Of course, such churches might exist for different purposes and I am not to judge their motives. But if we can work, ride and shop with people from other countries, what stops us from worshipping God together with people from other countries? “But, there’s the language barrier, especially for those who are new to church” you may say. You might want to read again what happened on the day of Pentecost:

“Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Lybia near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs – we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (Acts 2:5-11) That’s the power of God! They didn’t each have a church in their own language. People speaking different languages came together as one. For these foreigners, it would have been like it would be for me to hear an American preach or testify in Tamil! But, that’s the way the Spirit of God works when we come together in unity. So, instead of human methods, let us allow the work of God's Spirit.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who believe in me through their message that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” (John 17:20,21) Why don’t you and I be the answer to Jesus’ heartfelt prayer? As believers in the Lord Jesus, let us stand united. Let the One thing that unites us be the Blood of Jesus Christ, not just denomination, language, nationality, native place, caste or any other man-made interests.

Nobody Loves You? Love Somebody

The chief complaint of some people is: “nobody loves me”. We all long to be loved. I expect my husband to love me. I want him to listen to me and care for me. I also expect the love of my parents. I want them to rejoice with me. In contrast to human love from which we have a lot of expectations, we are privileged to be loved by the Heavenly Father, Whose love is much beyond human understanding and human terms of ‘love’. “Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) This is the kind of love that God has poured out on us. So, truly, there’s never a time when nobody loves you, because God’s love lasts forever (Psalm 136).

But, while we are so consumed about being loved – either rejoicing in God’s love or complaining that someone doesn’t love us enough, we often forget that we ourselves are to show love. When I read Proverbs 17:17a (“A friend loves at all times”) yesterday, I was reminded of how exciting it is to sing “I am a friend of God... He calls me friend”. But, I rarely realise that God is someone to be loved. As one who claims to be God’s friend, do I really love Him at all times? He longs to be loved too, as a Person, in an intimate way. Isn’t that obvious when His greatest commandment is ‘to love God and to love others’?

God is NOT a supernatural machine, who processes our prayer requests, plans out our lives and provides for our needs. He is a Person, who is madly in love with you and longs to be loved back.

When we are absorbed in loving God and loving others, we won’t be too rigid about expecting others to love us ‘enough’. “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31)

Not Our Things, Anyway

We live in a nice, compact, one-bedroom apartment. When we arrived, the only furniture available were a bed, a wooden chair and a small old cupboard. That was good enough for the two of us. We could comfortably sit on the carpeted floor with our legs stretched. Of course, we had all the home appliances. But, we could not invite anyone home. Where would we ask them to sit? Not on the floor! Since our stay in the US is temporary, we decided not to spend much on furniture. However, we needed something basic – at least to invite friends home.

It was a Saturday morning, just three weeks after we had come to the US. Our new friends (we had just met them the previous day) came home. They live in the same apartment complex and they were introduced to us by a common friend. They work among Indian students and they have been helping them set up their apartments. So, they get a lot of used furniture. They said they could give us some of that furniture. That would help us! Within the next one hour, our apartment was furnished with couches, a working table, television and much more than we thought we need. We did not have to pay a cent!

That day, we thought about the people who would have actually paid for those things. These things probably belong to different people – we do not know who they are. I wonder if they would even know we’re using those things now. But, they had the heart to let go of those material things, which is a blessing to us. That reminded us that not only is our stay in the US temporary, but also our stay in this world. After all, we are not going to carry any of our ‘belongings’ with us! So, why get attached to anything on earth? Our destination is heavenly. “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” (Luke 16:9)

All the Way to Texas...

28 February

Yet another car ride along the GST Road, from our house at SP Koil (near Chengalpet) to my husband’s parents’ house at Vadapalani, Chennai. We have travelled this road almost every weekend for the last 6 months. But, this time, it is different. All our ‘belongings’ are bundled and fitted in a mini-truck that’s going along the same road, but in a slower pace. I look for our house key just to make sure it’s safe (as I usually do) and I realise we’ve given up that rented house. We are going to stay with Danny’s parents. For how long? We don’t know. For Danny, staying in Vadapalani meant travelling at least an hour and a half to office and another hour and a half back home. But why are we moving? Well, that’s one question we had to answer repeatedly. And the answer: Our US visas are being processed by Danny’s company for Danny to work for a project onsite and I will be accompanying him. When will be travelling? We don’t know. From what we hear, we are expecting it to happen in a week or two.

01 March

Our US visa interview is scheduled for 15th March. That’s two weeks from now. Well, by our
20 March

From early this morning, I have severe toothache. So I check with the dentist and the dentist suggests extraction of my wisdom tooth, that is in the process of coming out. I am started on antibiotics to reduce the pain and swelling. I am thanking God that our visa interview was cancelled. Otherwise, we would have been preparing for our travel now.

In the evening, we get an e-mail indicating our new visa interview appointment on the 3rd of April. To accommodate the delay in the travel date, Danny has moved to a different track in his project, where he will be replacing another onsite person. This person, who will be leaving Plano, Texas has offered to sub-lease his apartment to us. Otherwise we would have to go there and then hunt for a house. So, we gladly agree. That gives us yet another reason to thank God for the delayed trip. The house is ready even before our visa! What can we say? That’s how the Lord works.

23 March

After three days of suffering with toothache, Danny takes me to the dentist and my tooth is extracted easily. Considering the severe pain I experience and the different diet pattern I have to follow, I am thanking God we are not in the US or in SP Koil, where we would have been by ourselves. Since we are with Maama (father-in-law) and Athai (mother-in-law), they take good care of me. In fact, Maama was the one who took me to the dentist three days back. If things had worked according to our earlier calculation, we would have been travelling around this time. Thank God the trip is delayed!

03 April

Today is the visa interview. With all documents in hand and knowing that God’s way surpasses all human effort, we appear for the interview. Danny is asked a couple of basic questions about his education and we are told that our visas are approved. It was over in less than a minute. Finally! After the long wait, we now have some answer for our friends and family. We thank God for one more step forward and we start preparing for our travel. Now the next question... When do we have to travel? Our guess was 9th or 10th of April. With that, I start calling up family and friends and telling them the news.

08 April

Our preparations for the travel are on full swing. Our purchases are almost done. My parents and sister want to come and see us off. But, when would they plan to come? We don’t know the dates yet! My mother’s students are doing their board exams and she needs to be present with them (at least for the subject she teaches). She needs to be told at least two days in advance so that they can plan accordingly. Nevertheless, they decide to come on Tuesday afternoon and leave Wednesday early morning. That’s the only convenient slot for them. Irrespective of when our travel would be, they would spend some time with us. Of course, they and we would love them to see us off at the airport. But, in the given situation, this is the best we could do.

We do our final lap of shopping today. We end up waiting for an hour in the queue to bill our purchase. We come out of the supermarket grumbling about the poor service and the lethargic staff, only to realise that I’ve lost my mobile phone! The phone is gone along with all the contacts stored in it. Thankfully, I had written down a few important phone numbers on a notebook just a couple of days back. At the end of the day, we look back and see uncertainty all over. But, we choose to believe the unseen – My redeemer lives! Danny reminded me to read Habakkuk 3:17-19. After all, our situation is nothing compared to that!

10 April

My parents and sister arrive in the afternoon and I have a good time with them. Tired of calling Danny again and again asking him if there is any progress, I decide to stop calling him because the answer is always negative or unsure. Around 2 PM, Danny tells me that we might have to take the flight that departs early tomorrow morning. But still, it is not confirmed. Anyway, now that the packing is done, I am prepared for anything. “Just give me an hour’s notice for me to get everything ready” I tell him. By 7 PM, Danny tells me that the tickets are booked and the flight is at 3:30 AM tomorrow. We have to leave home around 12:30 AM. Quickly, I get things ready for our departure. My eyes are filled with tears of joy at the way the Lord works. My parents and sister are here at exactly the right time, though none of us knew it would work out this way.

11 April

We land at Dallas, Texas after a long journey. We exclaim at His grace with grateful hearts “How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you.” (Psalm 31:19)

I would love to explain in detail how the Lord is leading and providing for us here in the US. But, since it’s already been a long post, I choose to wind up.

Though we don’t understand why God allows certain things, we trust and believe Him because the Word of God says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Some things make sense at a later point in life. Many others, we will perhaps understand only when we reach the other shore! Let us trust Him and wait for Him in all circumstances.

Back to the Palace

Position, power, passion, readiness, confidence and talent – Forty-year old Moses had all that is required of a leader. He was in an advantageous position to release the Hebrew slaves, because he was the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. His passion for his people is demonstrated when he killed an Egyptian who was beating a fellow Hebrew. He was on his toes. He was aware of the hardships of the Hebrews. “He went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labour.” (Exodus 2:11) Moses also had the best training. "Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.” (Acts 7:22) But all these could not help Moses liberate his people from slavery. The Hebrews did not even accept him as their leader. “Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.” (Acts 7:25) Later on, Moses had to flee from the palace for killing an Egyptian.

Away from the palace, Pharaoh, Egypt and the murder of an Egyptian, Moses soon got used to a different lifestyle in Midian. He was tending his father-in-law’s sheep. Forty years had gone by and Moses had become a different person. No more was he the confident and talented guy. He had become a shepherd. His reluctance to free the Hebrews is seen in that he asked too many questions and gave too many excuses to God. Looks like even his powerful speech had become slowness of speech and tongue, or he was just giving a lame excuse when he said, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” (Exodus 4:11)

At a time when Moses had lost his vision and passion, God met him at the burning bush and sent him back to the palace – the very place he had fled forty years ago. This time, he had no position or power. His confidence was not on himself but on God and His Power. With God, Moses was able to deliver God’s people and lead them.

Like young Moses, we often think we are best equipped to serve the Lord when we have the talent, when we are in an influential position or when we have the required resources. But, God does not want any of those. He is looking for people who will depend on Him completely with whatever they have. As goes the saying, God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called.

Whose Praise Matters?

When I was studying the Bible, this verse particularly caught my attention: “... a circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God.” (Romans 2:29) What’s the difference between being praised by God and being praised by man? Interestingly, what wins man’s praise is sharply in contrast with what wins God’s praise. You can’t blame man – he only praises you for what he sees!

Man’s praise is temporary – it is of no use when you get to heaven. It is of no value, except to make you feel good, for some time. People who praise you today may even turn against you later. So, you can't use man's praise to measure where you stand.

You would normally win man’s praise if you contribute a big sum to an orphanage or a church, pray long and loud prayers peppered with Scripture, recite a lot of verses from the Bible, lead praise and worship, perform miracles in the Name of Jesus, preach loud sermons interjected with “Hallelujah’s” and “Praise the Lord’s”, compose beautiful worship songs or write nice articles about your Christian walk. All these are good things to do. But, what would God find when He digs in deeper, where no one but He can see? Will He find a heart that is wholly devoted to Him? That’s what He desires to see and that’s what wins His praise. “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (I Samuel 16:7b)

God refers to David as “a man after His own heart” (Acts 13:22). By man’s standards, David would probably be classed as an adulterer and a murderer. You don’t need an impressive record to win God’s praise, but you need to have a sincere heart. We read of many people who won God’s praise – the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:28), the centurion (Luke 7:9), Moses (Deuteronomy 34:10-12) and many others. Let us be upright before God. Confess to Him your shortcomings, sins and struggles. That’s what pleases Him. (Luke 18:9-14)

At all times, let us examine ourselves to see if we live as those who will receive praise from God. A decision to increase my prayer time is good. But I need to check why I do it. Is it because I want to spend more time with this God I love or is it just to impress someone else or myself? More than what I do for Him, it is my heart that matters to Him – a life offered to Him as a pleasing sacrifice.

Before You Point Your Fingers...

“He’s a liar”
“She gossips a lot”
“Why can’t he be more patient?”
"Why does she have such a bad temper?”

At times, it is easier for us to point out the faults of others, but not so easy to see similar or worse faults in ourselves. King David has been there too. You’re asking “when”? Observe his response to prophet Nathan. The man who took the ewe lamb that belonged to a poor man deserves to die, whereas David himself can get away with murder and adultery. He burned in anger against this fictitious character (II Samuel 12:5), not realising that his own actions were worse. When David later realised his sin, he was quick to repent but he wished that the Lord would be gracious to him (II Samuel 12:22).

Often, we are gentle when dealing with our sins, but hard on others. We plead to God for mercy when we have sinned; but when someone else sins, we label them as a ‘sinner’. God hates it when we receive forgiveness but fail to forgive others. (Matthew 18:23 – 35) Jesus teaches us to treat others the way we ourselves would want to be treated. (Matthew 6:14,15; 7:2, 12) "... you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things." (Romans 2:1)

Now, don’t yet resolve that you will never again correct another person. That’s not what the Word of God teaches. “...first, take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:5) You can’t let that speck remain in your brother’s eye! You need to remove it, but only after you have removed the plank in your own eye.

This person had agreed to e-mail me something I had asked for, by Monday. It was Monday, but the e-mail didn’t come. I waited for a few more days. No e-mail still. I sent a reminder e-mail. No reply to that, either. Two weeks went by. I did not get the e-mail. “Now, that’s not right. How can this person promise to do something and not do it? Or, why not call me or send me a message saying that they couldn’t send it? Well, I am not angry with this person. But, I am ‘concerned’. Oh, this person must learn to keep a promise.” I was all set to talk to this person about obeying Matthew 5:37 (“Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘yes’, and your ‘no’, ‘no’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”) and Psalm 15:4b (“... who keeps his oath even when it hurts.”) I was quite prepared on what I wanted to say. I had been working on it for a few days, of course, with prayer. 

But, just before I could do this ‘talk’, God reminded me of the numerous times I had failed to keep my word! Now, that was scary. What could I do, but to simply count on His grace? There was a tremendous, almost instant, change in my attitude. Our discussion did happen. It turned out to be more helpful than accusatory. Only after the discussion did I come to know that e-mail was not this person’s preferred mode of communication.

The key is to focus on how merciful God has been to us. After all, Christ loves us sinners, sinless as He is!