Pain in Palu

Here in Singapore, many of us experience the daily hustle and bustle of the city life. We go through each day of school, work, and leisure activities. Sometimes, the comfort of life can cause us to be desensitized to the pain and suffering happening in the world.

I was brought to the other side of life, as my parents sent me into A&E. I am now having gastroenteritis, commonly known as “stomach flu”. I was severely dehydrated and was sent to the observation ward. They put me on IV drip to bring my body’s water level back to normal.

Before receiving the care from the hospital, things were quite bad at home. I was having voluminous amount of diarrhoea and was vomiting out almost everything I ate and drank. It was tough. At the A&E, I also saw much pain and suffering. There was an uncle who was talking to my dad in Hokkien. I could not understand much, but I could understand that he had kidney problems, amidst many other problems, and was often in and out of the hospital. I was talking to another uncle and his wife, where the uncle got sent to the A&E because of a fall he had at home because of some issues with his prosthetic leg. I was also hearing of the stories of sickness that other people in the ward had, of the surgeries and treatment that they had received.

As I was unable to take in any food or water, my heart went out to the people in Palu who are affected by the earthquake and tsunami. More than 1300 lives have been lost. The emotional anguish of losing a loved one must be painful. This is accompanied with the lack of food, water, and medical help.

I realized how important support was in my time of need and helplessness. The people who prayed for me and checked in on me, my family who decided to send me to the A&E and my parents who accompanied me there. God does not want us to turn a blind eye to those who are in need. Offer your support. Pray for them. Help in whatever ways you can.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ – Matthew 25:34-36

Jesus Himself ministered to the sick and hungry. He came primarily to die on the cross, to fulfil the requirements of the just, paying the penalty for the sins of humankind – death. Life is more than just food and clothing. Life is knowing who our creator is, His intent in creation, and being connected to Him. But Jesus knows food and clothing are things we need. And He wants us to care for the physical needs of others too. 

Jesus Himself identifies with our pain and suffering. No King is greater than the One who humbled Himself, even unto death upon the cross. Jesus has been tempted as we are, been without food as we have been (Matthew 4:1-2), scorned and mocked (Matthew 27:29), and eventually went through one of the most painful ways to die ever invented by the human hands. Sometimes, in our pain, we do not need words of wisdom, but simply a hand to hold on to. Jesus stretches His hand to us.

In the midst of pain and suffering, God is still sovereign. Jesus did not succumb to temptation, survived 40 days and nights of fasting, and is even victorious over death. However, in the face of difficult times, we can often wrestle with God’s sovereignty. Jesus’ disciples’ hope of a Saviour must have been crushed seeing Jesus defeated upon the cross. They did not understand what Jesus meant previously when He said that the Son of Man will be raised up on the third day. (Matthew 17:23) 

But when Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to the disciples, the disciples were filled with hope, and fervent for the gospel to be proclaimed. They were even willing to face persecution and to give up their lives for the sake of the gospel. There is hope anchored firmly in the character of God in the midst of pain and suffering. God is good. God is love. God is sovereign.

I woke up today to the fresh air of the morning. The newness of the morning felt refreshing. I am still having diarrhoea, but things are much better now. God too, is making all things new. One day, we will behold Him in the fullness of His Glory. All the pain and suffering that has been experienced here on earth will pale in comparison to the majesty of our Holy God. (Revelation 22:1-5) 

Things in Palu are not well. May we all help in whatever ways we can, and support be sent to the people in need. Things can be hard, but Jesus identifies with the suffering of the people. And may hope arise as people turn to God and trust in His sovereignty in the midst of tough times.

Hard Heart Lessons

"“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." 
Matthew 6:25-34

Perhaps, the hardest lessons for us to learn are the heart lessons. A Christian who has attended church from young may 'know' many things about who God is, what God has done, and what He desires of us. A christian may 'know' that God is a God of love. He/she may 'know' that God is reliable and one in whom we can trust. He/she may 'know' that God provides.

Yet, we may not believe in our hearts that God truly loves us. We may not believe that God is really dependable. We may say with our mouth that we believe in these things, but our actions give us away. We may know these things in our head, we may not know these things in our hearts.

And so Jesus was speaking in Matthew 6. He says that He cares even for the birds of the air, and the flowers of the field. Surely then, our worries and troubles do not escape Him. We are the foremost of His creation, and much more valuable in His eyes than the birds or the flowers. How do I know this? Well, perhaps many reasons may be given. Let me just say two of them. For one, we were made in God's image. (Gen 1:27) We resemble God in different ways, from humans' rationality, to creativity, and to moral capability. Secondly, we are valuable enough for God Himself to humble Himself unto to cross and to die for us. 

Personally, last semester was pretty intense. I was taking 4 philosophy modules. As of the start of the second last week of school, I had 5 things that were due by the last day of school. Thankfully, I submitted everything on time (1 of the 5 assignments' deadline was extended). And amazingly, I (mostly) had a sense of peace through the process and that was really precious to me. From my past experiences, I think I am someone who gets stressed pretty easily. But I am learning to trust in God and to depend on Him. I am learning that God provides for my needs. 

I was not always as trustful towards God as I was last semester. Previously, there was once when I was in charged of planning for my CCA's booth during NUS's Student Life Fair. I got so stressed up that I couldn't function well, and my heart was beating faster than normal. I was definitely in a state of anxiousness. It was not a nice feeling. Then I told God, acknowledging that the booth was His work, and I wanted to commit myself and the event fully into His hands. Peace came, God brought my team through the Student Life Fair, and I saw how He provided. I was able to learn to trust God through the hard times.

The hardest lessons for us to learn may be the heart lessons. Perhaps this is because they cannot really be taught through reading or hearing. They have to be experienced. God can use the difficult times to teach us what it means to trust Him, to know that He is our provider. I know that God provides, when I saw how He provided for my physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.