Thoughts from a friend

These are just some thoughts from a friend of mine which was so Good I had to share it here with you all! Happy reading!

Good, Better, Best?
We compare all the time, especially in the ‘kiasu’ Singaporean culture. In John 21, after receiving his life calling personally from the mouth of Jesus, Peter’s first question was about the other disciple, John: “What about him?” And Jesus’ reply was “What is that to you?” Each of us has unique gifts and callings based on what God has put in us. But we look to other people’s gifts and callings to gauge our effectiveness, instead of celebrating their stories and our’s.

Exploring Your Iceberg
Like icebergs, which are 90% under the water, we are often only in touch with what we feel and think on the surface, and not really aware of what’s churning underneath. As Christians, we often ‘stuff’ our real thoughts and emotions beneath the surface because it seems ‘un-Christian’ to feel or think these things. But by not dealing with what’s ‘down there’, we’re slowly killing our joy, and forming a shell around our hearts.

Moments that Count
Quiet time can become a formula for our spirituality. We think: If God is to speak to me today, He’d better do so in the 30min I’ve set aside for Him this morning! And if we miss those times, we feel an overwhelming sense of guilt or shame. Or we search for glorious encounters and extraordinary events as anchors for our souls. But if God is everywhere, all the time, then there are countless ordinary moments for us to experience His presence. It all counts!

The Importance of Trust
I must confess, my concept of trust used to be this: I ask you to do something --> You do it --> I trust you. Maybe some of you can identify with me :b Yes, getting the task done is definitely a part of trust, but I’ve learnt that the most important element of trust is really ‘being known’. How well I know my team as individuals will determine how much I can trust them. And it’s not enough for the leader to trust the team - the team needs to trust each other too.

The Problem of Overfunction
This was a timely reminder about boundaries. Something new I realized was that if two people are over-functioning to compensate and ‘cover’ for the other’s job, then neither one truly grows in his real assigned role. In a marriage, for example, this can occur when the husband has the unsaid permission to overfunction at work because his wife is overfunctioning at home.. Mum becomes a resentful single parent and Dad, a workaholic.

Live for Today
There is a subtle lie that many Christians believe. That “one day, things will settle down”. While it’s true that in God we can hope for a better tomorrow, having this mindset can cause us to delay in doing what God is calling us to do today. For example, we tell ourselves “after this crisis is over, I will give to missions” or “when such-and-such a person joins our team, then we will be ready to do this thing.” We need to risk living for today more.

God Bless ;)
Sam