Left Behind

No, I am not writing about the movie of the same name. But the message is just as serious.

Joel 2: 28-29 says "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days..."

This prophecy worries me, especially when I consider the state of young families. The couples are usually in their 30s and they have at least one or more pre-school kids. They are usually busy with little time or energy left to worship or take in God's Word on Sunday. I have no idea what they do on weekdays, or whether it's like that outside of the church I attend, but I shudder. Week after week, I hear pastors speaking about the fire in young people. We hear about the older generation going on mission trips to share the word. Uncomfortably missing from mention is the middle-aged group, or what I call "the in-betweens". I am unmistakenably an "in-between" myself, having 2 young daughters aged 4 & 6, but I am wondering if this group has been left behind while the church moves with the flow of the Holy Spirit.

Many in this group are either not serving or not attending Sunday service regularly, or more typically both. They often look tired on Sundays, perhaps as a result of having expended their energy the day before on children and household chores, and 5 days before that on work. Few of them are part of home cell fellowship which meets at least twice a month for bible study, worship and prayer. I fear that this group is too caught up with life in this world that they have missed out big time on the actions in the spiritual realm. Their children attend Sunday School but they themselves soak up little of whatever Sunday Service has to offer.

It boils down to choice.

Back in my university days when I had to be active in various activities just to accumulate enough points to stay in a hostel, I got a rude awakening after my first year. I have never failed in any subjects before & here I was staring at my results slip that announced a failed grade in one of the subjects. In my second year, I pulled up my socks and stayed away from most activities while ensuring that I get a place in one of the most unpopular blocks of student hostels. That strategy worked. While I still failed in two subjects, I got better grades for all of my other subjects. By my third year, I was full speed ahead in my studies and I got the best results ever.

It taught me something about focus, choice and letting go, which God has been teaching me all these years in my life.

I did not need to stay in the most popular hostel; all I needed was a roof to sleep under during weekdays. Why did I bother to be so active so as to get the better rooms? I was here to study and graduate in three years. That was my purpose. I thank God that as He made me understand this thing about choice & letting go, He also brought me closer to Him. I got involved with the university's Christian Fellowship and since then, I know what it means to be a Christian. It was there that I met Dr Tan Lai Yong, an exemplary believer who went on to heal the sick for years in the remote villages of China, touching lives with the love of Christ and the hand of man as He followed the will of God in his life. I met friends who encouraged me to walk closely with the Lord and who selflessly took care of me while I struggled with life as a young Christian.

Today, as I looked back, I know God has prepared me long before for such a time as this. I was the accidental children ministry worker who got involved because my wife (then girlfriend) was. As I taught and ministered, I was strengthened myself in the word of God. Currently teaching in Sunday School, I am still learning and ministered to even as I teach children. Could I have been ministered to in other ways? Yes, but certainly not from just listening to Sunday sermons or reading books. Having tasted the joys of servanthood & seeing how God continues to mold and shape me as I walk with Him, I cannot imagine not serving in any ministry. I am glad that God prepared me beforehand, before He blessed me with a career and children, so that these blessings do not rob me of the joys of spending time with Him & ministering to the needs of others.

If you are my peer, if you are an in-between, if you have served once upon a time, but have put service on hold for some reasons, if you are no longer spending meaningful time with the Lord Jesus Christ, if you do not want to be left behind, I invite you to pray along with me:

Father in heaven

I thank you for choosing me for life. You chose me and called me out of darkness into your wonderful light. I thank you further for the career and children which you have blessed me with. I have come thus far, only by your grace and mercy.

Father, I ask for your forgiveness for having neglected you in all my busy-ness. I was too focused on and absorbed by the things around me to focus on you. I want to experience once again the move of the Holy Spirit in my life. I want to be filled with the visions and dreams that you have to bestow. I want to relive the joys of salvation and be a fruitful believer.

Father, help me choose what is right as I try to focus on you. Help me let go of things which you will take care of. Help me trust in you wholeheartedly as a child does. Surround me with your love, your peace and your joy, and let me reach out and touch lives even as You touch mine.

Thank you, Father. In Jesus' name,
Amen

May God bless you, readers.
Thomas