Clearing Up Our System

Hi, brothers and sisters. As we are approaching the end of year 2020 with the last month left, how are all of you reflecting on your year so far? This has been a pretty exceptional year, especially with the COVID-19 situation and of course, many of us have been affected in one way or another. It could be through changes at work, being financially challenged, stress with child-care arrangements, getting more distant from loved ones and many many more. And I wonder how some of you have pulled through these different circumstances.

I can see from a lot of my social media feed or interactions with my friends that we all have different ways to deal. Some are just optimistic by nature, some are resourceful to find other outlets, while others did go through certain phases of depression and uncertainties. For myself, as I was reflecting through my year, the first thing on my mind was: Did I waste some pockets of time? Was I being redundantly bothered by certain things? Did I redo some mistakes? Was I a good witness for the Lord? Or am I just me in status quo from last year? Just basically the main question of “Have I done something useful with my time?” I spent a long while coming to terms with a lot of shortfalls and weaknesses that I have and still is struggling with and sometimes, as you dwell on this mental checklist, it can exhaust you, and make you feel that the whole year just seemed wasted away or badly planned out and executed. That for me, left me crippled for awhile. But I vaguely remember this verse from Ephesians 5:14-20 that says: ““Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.  ” In these verses, Paul was appealing to the Ephesians to wake up and realise the dangerous condition they are slipping into— the urgency of being alert to evil’s pervasiveness and to keep our spiritual standards in check. I especially love the contrast of wine and Spirit, where wine provides us with a temporary “high”, but the spirit is the one that satisfies us with psalms of praise, of music to the heart, of thanksgiving to the Lord. It sets a lot of thing in its place when we link the scriptures of God to our life the same way.

Drunk In “Wine”?

No doubt we are always exposed to “wine”, that is the worldly influences, the temptations that preys on our desires and the likes. And we have certain “wines” that we are more prone to be attracted to. Like for myself, I am very drawn to doing art or thinking of fresh ideas to do something fun with my family. And that is where I also have certain expectations for myself on whether what I am putting out there for people to see is good enough or whether I have pleased people enough. So when we are so overstimulated by these “wines” and whatever feelings accompanied with it, when the plain simple word of God comes, we feel that it is bland or less “interesting”. That is where we are too “drunk” in our thoughts and emotions to make a sound judgment of what is good for us and what isn’t. We forget this rule of thumb when it comes to the worldly wines— that is, it wears off. Then we get hungover, and that is the state I was in when I reflected my year. I felt hungover by the emotions of feeling bad for my choices, or being unclear of how Satan was actually attacking me, of the people I may have discounted and stuff like that. But that surely was not the intention of God, who is the Provider of “clean drinking water” for my system, and yours for that matter.

Clearing Up Your System

So when this verse came to my mind, by God’s gracious intervention, I knew there was more than just negative reflections, regrets or self-praises when it comes to year end introspections. God never intends for us to be disheartened by what we cannot do, but be empowered by turning back to Him for help and direction instead. And the answer to those of us struggling and pulling through to the end of the year is right here in the verse we read earlier: “Be filled with the Spirit.” And how so? To clear up our system with the pure drinking water from His word, His church and the fellowship. I, for one, find my greatest realisations and days starting with being immersed in devotion, being in the midst of a sermon or when I am sharing God’s testimonies with the youths. That is the moment when I am most guarded from my temptations and liberated from many of the knots in my own heart. 

Finding Your Way To Source For “Water”

The Lord comes to those who seek after Him, and to be honest, it really is not hard to seek God in our times of need. He is so readily available in so many ways. I know many who lament that they cannot seem to experience God like how some church leaders or brethren can, and I was one of those who lamented. But it is not a copy and paste kind of way. It has to be based on our own journey of testing and approving God’s work in our own lives, how He approaches us. Through people, through worship, through messages, through a circumstance. And when we have that, do not let it go lightly. Think about it, reflect on God’s purpose for it, let it sink into your library of evidences for His presence, count every blessing you identify in your life through Him and give thanks for every moment that you failed and He has shown you a way back to His lessons of reliance, trust and hope again.

As we end the year, chucking aside our “wines” and our lamentations, may we all be continually spirit-filled to see that God has always had His hands in every moment of your 2020 and give thanks for a renewed perspective to be trained up in “living as the wise” for the upcoming year. God bless.