Sunday, September 5, 2010

by Rev. James Wong

“I lift up my eyes to the hills — where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord , the Maker of heaven and earth.”
~Psalm 121:1-2 (NIV)


The time has come for me to leave home. I was making all the preparations and suddenly mum came in to my room. She gave me a piece of paper written with her own handwriting. She said she wanted me to keep it while I was away in Singapore for my theological studies. What was written on the piece of paper were words of great encouragement to me during the course of my studies. I knew they were words quoted from the Bible but I did not know from which book.

As I was reading through my Bible one day I finally came to Psalm 121 and found that the words that my mum had given me on that piece of paper was quoted from this Psalm. My mum must have thought of the times when I would struggle with my studies and would need encouragement. Indeed Psalm 121 was precious to me. Here are the few lessons I have learned.

1. Watch what you have chosen to see. Our perspective will determine our outcome. I have seen many people living in misery as if they are stuck in the miry clay. Really, I have found that we have a choice to what we want to see. “I lift my eyes to the hills …” (v.1). The psalmist saw his help coming from the Lord who is the maker of heaven and earth. Successful people always see solutions and opportunity in a problem whereas the failures always see problems and dead ends. Faith in God gives us a new perspective in living. We are often betrayed and kept hostage by our wrong perspective of life. If you are starting to make mobile phones, just by looking at the models available in the market will kill your dream of getting started. But iPhone came around and cause a storm and change the history of mobile phones. Consumer wants a better phone.

2. Watch who is taking charge. “My help comes from the Lord , the Maker of heaven and earth.” (v.1b). Knowing who is taking charge of our life changes our confidence and faith level. It is so easy to see the ‘storm’ that we are going through taking control of our life. But if we see that God is in control of the ‘storm’ and our destiny is in his hands, we rise above the storm and see the sun. Beyond the dark clouds the sun is always there. We can be easily defeated by the adverse circumstances of our lives but when we know that the Lord is in control even of our death and beyond, our fears will have to give way to the peace of God. “The Lord watches over you” (v.5).

The verses must have meant a lot to my mum in her own struggle … and she gave them to me for my reminder. By keeping my sight high I am able to move on with confidence.

No comments:

Post a Comment