Faith can be very practical

Just met up w Shenteng & Peiru & Weizhu. We helped them with their church website. So glad to be able to help them even if it's only a very small thing. Thank God for WZ who blessed the church by purchasing the WordPress theme license and giving it to the church. :)

Shared with Shenteng that I've been toying with the idea of going over to Hope Ecuador to help out with the children's ministry there. Been praying a bit about this possibility before, so asking ST was the next step to see if this is feasible. And Shenteng said it's a good idea - if I can save up & raise the $ to fly there.

So... beginning of 2012. :) if I can raise up $3.5K for the ticket + necessary expenses... and if God really wants me to go there. But yeah, if God wants me to go there, He will provide, one way or another - probably my own savings and God-knows-where else.

So yeah, will have to think about the practical aspects and timeframe and how it will affect others eg my family - and job search too in the next two years. (Thank God for HQ who kept on reminding me of the importance of thinking about these things! :))

Ha...

On a deeper note, I believe that's the important part of experiencing God - if you think He is calling u to go somewhere, then you pray & fast to confirm, and then you do your part to help fulfill the faith goal. If God has indeed called you, He will provide. (Thank God for my dear sister Joyce who shared her testimonies of how God provided for her when she wanted to go for missions trips. :))

I know that quite a few people have asked me before whether I am really sure that I should be doing this, because they are concerned about whether I have enough finances, etc, and other practical considerations. Thank God for their concern... but yeah, I think the first question that should be asked is not: "Do you have the necessary resources / are you sure you are able to do this / is it the right thing/time to do?"

But this is not how practical faith works. The first question should be: "Has God indeed called you to do this?"

We mistakenly assume that if we do not have enough resources to do something big and scary, it therefore means that God has not called us to do such a thing. No wonder our lives are dry! No wonder signs and wonders are not very present in our lives! No wonder we find our Christian walk to be humdrum and routine! Because we have not understood how to live by faith.

But I'm not saying that we should throw caution to the wind and start jumping out of the boat to walk on water. What we should do first is to double check whether God has indeed called us to do so-and-so. That would be prudence in action. And if it really does seem to be so, then... we should use all our practical skills n wisdom to think how to achieve that faith goal, and also how we can partner with the Holy Spirit to do the big and scary thing. That is practical faith that is wise and obedient.

In fact, I think sometimes when God calls us to leave our comfort zones, He sometimes calls us to do something that actually makes more sense than our comfort zones. Eg if there's a job that we are clearly not suited for, but it pays comfortably... and then God calls us to leave that job and go for a job that suits us better in terms of skills but pays less, we start rationalizing that it would be nice, but we have to make a living and all that... But Proverbs tells us that a man who is skilled in his work will serve before kings, not obscure men. And I guess kings and CEOs pay much better wages than an obscure small-business boss. Hee. So yah I think sometimes faith doesn't always mean that you have to do illogical things. Sometimes it means that you have to trust the sound evidence and wisdom that is presented to you and not listen to your irrational fears.

Sort of like the shrewd merchant who saw a pearl so wonderful that he ran back, sold everything he had and bought that pearl, even though it literally cost him everything he had. Because his shrewd mind did the maths and knew that whatever he had lost would be easily covered by the sale of that priceless pearl. Logical, no? :)

So I think faith in God's wisdom & providence makes so much more sense than faith in our own abilities & strength.

Just my thoughts...

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