Don't Hurry, Take Your Time!

Don’t Hurry, Take Your Time!

As I waited for my turn in the long line of customers, I was restless and in a hurry drawing the attention of others around me.  I was wondering why the person before me was taking so long to complete the bank transaction.   Finally my turn came and I walked up to the counter and in a hurry fumbled with my documents.  The papers fell down.  At that moment, the counter staff said “Sir, please take your time”.  I was grateful for that permission.  I took few more minutes to gather my papers and complete my transactions.   

We seem to live in a world where we are always in a hurry.  We hurry through our school days, then the university and then work.  We hurry through our different life stages from childhood, teens, youth, adulthood, marriage, parenting, middle age and old age.   Our mealtimes are also in a hurry now helped by the fast food culture but are always looking for a better diet plan.  We travel in a hurry using high speed transport and yet we end up late.  We communicate through instant technology and yet we end up missing deadlines. 

It takes time for a seed to grow, mature and bear fruit.  It takes time to heal when we are sick.  It takes time to renew our energy when we are exhausted.  The problem with those of us who are hyper active is our inability to stay still waiting for the process of growth, healing and renewal to take its time.    We expect results in a hurry.

God is never in a hurry.  He takes time to do His work in us.  Although he can at times do miracles that produces instant results, the normal way God works is by taking time.  God created time and space.  He works from an eternal perspective. God took 40 years to prepare Moses in the wilderness to be the leader of His people.  God took another 40 years to shape the Hebrew slaves in the wilderness to become His chosen people who will enter the Promised Land.  Paul encourages us that he is confident that God who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil 1:6).  James exhorts us that the testing of our faith produces perseverance.   Let perseverance finish its work so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (Jam 1:3-4)

Pray that God’s spirit will empower us with faith and perseverance to run the race marked out for us!                                                                                  John Amalraj

In God’s Time – Everything is Beautiful!

We were waiting for another colleague to arrive before we can start our scheduled meeting.  He was very late.  The moment he arrived in the room, he noticed the disappointment on all our faces and our unspoken judgement of “You are guilty of being late”.   Being on time has become a modern day virtue.  It is rude to be late for anything.  But my colleague apologised and explained the reasons for his delay.  He then challenged our attitudes to waiting and judging others.  As we wait we become restless, impatient and angry.  Waiting is a spiritual exercise and the scripture exhorts us to wait for the Lord. 

Diane Ball and her husband were driving in a car on their way to a meeting where she was to be the speaker.  Unfortunately, they got delayed and during that long drive, Diane heard the melody and the words ring in her ears and a song came into being.  It was an inspiration by the Holy Spirit that turned the words of the scripture into a beautiful song “In His Time…” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  There is always a purpose behind the delays which we understand much later. 

The sisters knew that if only Jesus was present when their brother Lazarus was sick, it would have been different.  Even after sending a SOS message, Jesus did not turn up.  Lazarus died.  He was buried.  After another four long days, Jesus arrived in response to the message. More than anger, the sisters displayed their anguish at the turn of the events but at the same time trusting in Jesus to do the impossible.  Jesus was moved to tears and Lazarus was raised back to life to the glory of God (John 11).   

It was the sun and moon that determined times, seasons and years as God created (Genesis 1:11). Later on man-made devices have been used to measure and track time from hour glass, water clock, sun dials, candle clock, mercury based clocks to the present mechanical, pendulum, atomic and digital devices etc.  We are now driven by these devices rather than by the timing set by God.

God’s timing is different from our understanding of time.  A day is like a thousand years and thousand years are like a day for the Lord. (2 Peter 3:7-9).  We need to pray along with the psalmist “teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12) and learn to wait for God’s time.  May each new day remind us that God will make everything beautiful in His time! John Amalraj

No One Knows-not even the Son!

The door bell rang late in the evening and when I opened the door, I was surprised to see a group of pre-teens all with fancy dresses greeting me “Happy Halloween” and asking for treats.  Acting in ignorance, I struck up a conversation with the little ones to find out what they knew about ‘Halloween”.  They said that they got all their information from ‘Google’.  They wondered why I was unaware of this special day.  Finally I gave them some chocolates to send them away.  The word spread and soon we had two more groups of kids from our gated community visiting us for chocolates. 

Knowledge is power. There were days when astrologers ruled supreme because they claimed to know the future. Today our mobile devices keep us abreast of what is happening around the world within seconds including the weather and traffic updates – even though at times the prediction mislead us.  We rarely go outside our home without our devices in the fear that we may miss any ‘breaking news’.  We want to know and know more.

Recently, an elderly friend in church asked me ‘Do you believe Jesus is coming back soon?’ Whenever there is a natural or man-made disaster or out-break of a war or riot, we start to wonder about the second coming of Jesus. Especially, when we are no longer in control of what is happening in our lives and in the world that we expect the end times.  Jesus’ disciples were perturbed at the comments made by him on the destruction of the temple and the end days.  They wanted to know more. They wanted more precise information so that they can be prepared.  But Jesus said ““But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matt 24:36). We often assume that Jesus knows everything.  But he himself acknowledges that there is one thing he does not know – i.e. about his own second coming.  One thing is sure, whether we will have our mobile devices or not – none of us will miss Jesus’ second coming as it will be visible to all like a lightening, with signs in the heavens and a trumpet call.  (Matt 24: 27-31)

It is never easy for us to live without knowing what is going to happen the next year, the next month, the next day or even the next hour.   Learning to trust God without knowing the future is an important step in our faith life. We have the Scripture to know about the future events. We need not depend on astrologers, prophets or mobile devices.  We can study the scripture to understand the times and learn to be watchful.  Let us be prepared like the early Christians praying “Marana tha – Come Lord Jesus”! (I Cor.16:22)  John Amalraj

How I Wonder What You Are?

“Twinkle, Twinkle little star, How I wonder what you are!” is one of the popular nursery rhyme many love. Have you any time attempted to look at the skies counting the twinkling stars?

Abraham was very disappointed that he had no heir, when God in a vision promised him that he will have a son.  God then took him out into the open and told him “Look up at the sky and count the stars - if indeed you can count them” so numerous will be your heirs. (Gen 15:1-6) Later when Abraham passed the faith test – the angel of the Lord again assured him of God’s promise that he will make his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. (Gen 22:17-18) It took many years before Isaac was born as the promised son to the wonder of his parents.  

The Israelites were promised a Messiah through the prophets.  Again it was several hundred years until the set time fully came that God sent his son into this world to save us. (Gal 4:4)    The wise men were led by a star to worship the newborn messiah in wonder.  Unfortunately many of the Jews missed the opportunity to believe in Jesus as the Christ as they were looking for a savior with their intellectual rather than the wonder of looking at a star and be guided by it. 

Politicians make promises and never keep them.  We meet people everyday who promise and fail.  We too make promises that we break quite often.  God kept his promise to Abraham and to the Israelites. Peter assures us of the second coming of Jesus Christ that “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promises, as some understand slowness.  Instead he is patient that everyone should come to repentance. (2 Pet 3:8-9) There is a purpose in the delay of the fulfillment of the promises.  

Paul then adds that no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. (2 Cor1:20).  This season is a time to celebrate the fulfillment of God’s promises.  It is also a time to remember that God will continue to fulfill all the promises He has made to each one of us.  The next time we have a chance to look at the skies and see the stars, let us count them one by one and say “God’s promises are “Yes” in Christ.  This is the best greeting during this season of celebration. May the Holy Spirit bring us a new hope of the promises of God in Christ Jesus!  John Amalraj

Are We Moved With Compassion ?

Are We Moved with Compassion?

Many years ago, during my first visit to Mumbai, when we reached the train station, we saw a sea of people – crowds.  Our hosts escorted us to board the local train to our final destination.  When the train arrived on the station, within seconds we found ourselves inside the coach.  Crowds of people were jostling each other for space inside the coach.  After what seemed a long time, our hosts instructed us to face the coach exit and soon when the train stopped, we were out of the train on the platform.  The crowds simply pushed us in and then out. 

As a young man at that time, the Mumbai crowd was an adventure. Not anymore. Now, when I see the crowd, my first reaction is to think “something is wrong here and I need to avoid the crowd”.  When a politician sees the crowd in a rally, he is thinking of more votes for himself.  When a sportsperson sees a crowd of spectators, they are motivated.  When a Bollywood star sees a crowd outside the cinema, they are thinking of profits for their movie. When a policeman sees a crowd on the road – he is worried about law and order. 

When Jesus saw a large crowd, Matthew tells us, he was moved with compassion. (Matthew 14:13-21) The original Greek word for ‘compassion’ (pity, mercy, kind, tender hearted) translated into English suggests deep inner turmoil, literally meaning that his bowels were in pain. Normally, when we use the word compassion – we seldom feel such an emotion anywhere in our body.  As we watch the television news and are bombarded by social media of tragic events around the world, we have become immune to yet another disaster.  Psychologists now call this as ‘compassion fatigue’.  Therefore when we see a beggar or an accident or the crowds, we do not feel any emotion.

Jesus was moved with compassion when he saw the people harassed, distressed, helpless and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Moved with compassion, he preached and taught, fed the hungry, healed the blind, lepers, raised the dead and casted out demons.  Paul exhorts us to put on a heart of compassion. (Colossians 3:12) It is not easy to be compassionate to the other. There are no pre-conditions to show compassion.  Compassion is shown to the un-deserving not necessarily for those who think they have a right to receive compassion.

Mother Teresa once said “At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.  We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in……… God has identified himself with the hungry, the sick, the naked, the homeless; hunger not only for bread, but for love, for care, to be somebody to someone; nakedness, not for clothing only, but nakedness of that compassion that very few people give to the unknown; homelessness, not only just for a shelter made from stone but for that homelessness that comes from having no one to call your own. (Mother Teresa (2001) ‘Mother Teresa: Essential Writings’)

Let us pray that we will experience that deep emotion of compassion as we hear, see and read news from around the world rather than judge others.  In the midst of growing hostility to our faith in Christ, we should be moved with compassion to serve others. Let us transform our communities by showing the compassion of Jesus.  John Amalraj K

Published in Light of Life, Mumbai, October 2018, Vol 61.10