So it's been about a month since the year 2010 started, and I thought it would be nice to have a bit of reflection. January is almost over now, and school is beginning to kick into full swing.
Time's an interesting thing. Sometimes you feel as if the day's never going to end; other times, there seems like there's never enough time. A very paradoxical thing, time is.
Some days you wake up and feel as if there's not enough time in the world, and worry about how you're going to get everything done on time (year 6s especially), and sometimes even lapse into despair.
Yet surely there is a time for everything in the world, as Ecclesiastes states:
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
A time to be born and a time to die,
A time to plant and a time to uproot,
A time to kill and a time to heal,
A time to tear down and a time to build,
A time to weep and a time to laugh,
A time to mourn and a time to dance,
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
A time to embrace and a time to refrain,
A time to search and a time to give up,
A time to keep and a time to throw away,
A time to tear and a time to mend,
A time to be silent and a time to speak,
A time to love and a time to hate,
A time for war and a time for peace."
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, NIV)
And if there is a time for everything in the world, and the Lord our God is in control of it all, surely there is no cause for concern. For He knows all things, and all will surely work towards whatever His will may be. As Jesus Christ Himself states, in Matthew 6:25-34, Do Not Worry. Our heavenly Father, who takes care of the birds of the air, will surely watch over us as well. For "who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Matthew 6:27, NIV) (Or "single cubit to his height", for that matter. That certainly applies in my case.)
"For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:32-34, NIV)
What does this tell us? Firstly, that God should be the first thing in our lives that we chase after; all other things, as much as we need them, will be provided unto us by our Father in heaven, and do not merit so much concern. For if we worry too much about these things, we allow them to weigh us down and in doing so, affect our lives as well as our own walks with God.
Secondly, the Lord our God knows what it is that we need. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 2:16, NIV)
Have you heard of the parable of the persistent widow? (Luke 18:1-8) The woman, who desired "justice against [her] adversary", continuously went up to seek the judge, who cared nothing for men, and did not fear God. The judge ignored her time and again, but still she persisted. Finally, the judge gave up and decided to give her the justice that she so desired, for he was tired of her bothering him.
Why this parable? It was told by Jesus to his disciples, to "show them that they should always pray and not give up". This ties in with what is said in Philippians, regarding the presentation of our requests unto God. If the Lord knows what we need, and we as His children pray to Him and ask Him for those things, surely He will grant them unto us! That is not to say that such things will be provided instantly unto us, though. Still, do not be discouraged.
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.... If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" (Luke 11:9-10,13)
Having said all that, however, regarding the matter of worrying, though we are told not to worry, let us not become completely apathetic or indifferent to things. Time is precious, after all.
"Be very careful, then, how you live -- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." (Ephesians 5:15-17, NIV)
Life is given unto us by the Lord our God. So, then, how we live is a testament of our faith to God, as displayed to others. As the verse states, let us make the most of every opportunity, doing what the Lord's will may be.
Let me try to put this in context a bit. As students, we are given the opportunity to study in this school of ours, and with this opportunity, we should do our best to honour God by glorifying him in all that we do (i.e. results, homework, etc.). In the case of living wisely, let us not do anything that would dishonour God, nor anything that He would not approve of. For those of us in the ministry (or ministries), be it in school or in church, we have been given the opportunity to reach out to others and minister unto them, and to evangelize and spread God's Word as well. Let us to this to the best of our abilities, as well.
This is once again reiterated in Colossians:
"Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity." (Colossians 4:5, NIV)
I will not claim that any of the things I have said above are easy to do, or easy to put into action; far from that, I know as much as anyone else that it is far easier to say these things than it is to actually do them. Nevertheless, as time passes by, let's try our best to do these things, for the sake of the Lord our God.
I'll start to wrap up around here (wow that's one long post!), but let me leave a few things behind for certain groups of people:
To the Year 6s:
Hey. Well, deadlines are popping up all over the place like nobody's business, but keep strong. This is our last year here. Let's make the most of it, for the Lord our God. Support each other, keep on going, and as Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy, let us follow his example, and fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith. Perhaps we too are being poured out like drink offerings, doing our best for the Lord our God, as everything looms ahead. But hey, don't be discouraged. Keep praying, and spending time with God, seek Him in your time(s) of need, and surely He'll help us all make it through to the end.
"I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13, NIV)
To the Year 5s:
Welcome back to those of you from ACS(I), and welcome to the newcomers too. Welcome to IB. I'll be honest here, and most of you already know this, but: It's not going to be easy, these next two years. Time, which I've been jabbering on about in the previous hundreds of words for who knows how long, is an important thing here. Manage it well, use it well, don't end up leaving things to the last minute too often (which I have a tendency to do). Like my mum always tells me, you're the stewards of your time. Even if you're not accountable to any man on earth, at the end of the day, you'll be accountable to God for what you've done with your time. So take good care of your time! I won't claim to be a shining example of this (I'm pretty much the exact opposite, in fact), but trust me, you need to manage your time well.
"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." (Luke 16:10) (This applies to time as well)
To Everyone Else:
I'm sorry for lumping all of you together in one big group like this, but aside from the above two groups, there's really not much else I can say to the rest of you, aside from what's already been written up there. Just... spend your time in the school well; it'll pass by more quickly than you think.
I'm sorry for lumping all of you together in one big group like this, but aside from the above two groups, there's really not much else I can say to the rest of you, aside from what's already been written up there. Just... spend your time in the school well; it'll pass by more quickly than you think.
The End: (Written) Prayer in General
Father, I pray for all those who read this, that You will continue to watch over them and be with them, as You have always done. Father, You who created the Heavens and the Earth, Space and Time, You know how important Time is, and You know that we struggle with it.
So I pray that You will help us not to worry or be overly anxious about how short Time seems to be, Father, be it deadlines or exams or other things. Help us to trust in You, Lord, for through You all things are possible. At the same time, Father, help us to use our Time well, that we may be able to make the most of every opportunity, Father, and live wisely, Father, glorifying You in all that we do.
In the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
Amen.
For the glory of God, and the advancement of His will on Earth as it is in Heaven,
/JamesKoh
