Currently reading (as a Lifegroup): The God Chasers (by Tommy Tenney)
Some things are just difficult to lay down.
Got reminded of Paul Ang's sermon on finishing well.. scary to see how time and time again, stories of people who did great things and whose hearts were faithful for long periods of time (eg the life of King Asa), ended up self-destructing towards the end..
In Psalm 44, the author remembered God’s faithfulness in the past in helping the Israelites through many battles. Our source of victory / strength is in God, not our own abilities. But later, the author finds no reason for defeat, oppression, devastation which befell them, but yet he chose to put His hope in God, as mentioned 3 times ("Why are you downcast my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope on God, for I will yet praise Him, my savior and my God."). How is our response towards commitment despite things not going our way?
A leader commented that although I can share the many things I have seen and learnt, and how God has helped me through various things over the past 2 years, but these are visible things / experiences. Hence, if you take everything out of the picture and strip it bare, with nothing left (no people, no church, no testimonies, no teaching etc) - you are by yourself.. then what will the basis of your faith be grounded in when it comes to decision making? Putting aside the circumstances at hand and the pros and cons of each option, really ASK what does He want you to do after graduation?
Reminded of a reunion last month with a person who encouraged me to press on despite the odds, a brief encounter which yielded the words, "The joy of the Lord shall be your strength."
It's never about programs / methods - it's about one life impacting another.
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