Pastor's Corner
January, 2005
The year 2004 will soon be a blurry memory. Regardless of our age, each of us has gone through yet another year of growing. In the process of growing, most of us have experienced growing pains. It is a part of life. Another fact of life is that there isn’t anything we can do about the past. Good or bad, we can’t go back to start 2004 again. Life isn’t a game in which we can push the “restart” button to play it over again or turn off the game in frustration. We must keep going. Like most people, your 2004 probably consisted of ups and downs, peaks and valleys. But whatever you did, good or bad; no matter what choices you made, right or wrong; you will start with a clean slate. Part of growing is to learn to leave the past behind. If you have victories, don’t savor them for too long because past successes don’t guarantee future gain. If you have defeats, don’t dwell on them because it would only cause you to lose heart.
Well, all that brings us to 2005, a year of new frontier, new challenges, new adjustments, and new unknowns. True, life may seem the same, in the big picture, like going to work everyday, taking vacation to catch a breather from time to time, or going to school, for those who are still in school and longing for breaks. But then, it will not be the same as previous years because you have changed, and people around you have changed as well. Whenever there are changes, we are demanded to adjust and adapt to the changes. Otherwise, we will be frustrated, and the “growing pains” would be unbearable.
No doubt, we will be facing plenty of unknowns in the upcoming year. You may find yourself many a time standing at a crossroad. Which direction will you take? If you look to the right or to the left, it would distract you from moving forward. If you look down, there isn’t much on the ground to help you. You can look back, and certainly your past experiences may help you muster enough courage to move forward. May I suggest to you to look back and bring to mind how God had led you through those difficult situations in the nick of time, and to those unexpected surprises from Him. God told the Israelites to erect monuments for this particular reason. Then, you should look up into the heavens and see the glory of God. Bring to mind a question and answer of the old, “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.” (Ps. 121:1-2) Take courage and move forward into the exciting mystery called future.
Before I sign off, I wish you a blessed new year. May God bring home to you a sense of safety in Christ Jesus! May He assure you with the sense of peace secured by His nail-pierced hands and whisper in your ear His promise, “Fear not, for I am with you.”
Pastor Larry
