Thursday, May 27, 2010

Expectation - Should have or not to have?

Should we have expectations of one another and of God?
Let's first look at the bible
Job 29:21
"Men listened to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel.
Psalm 5:3
In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.
Romans 8:19
The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
Hebrews 10:27
but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

Luke 6:34-35
And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Think it should be quite obvious from the verses that we should come to God in expectation. But will our expectations all come to pass? i would say no. Well, then why run the risk of having to feel disappointed? while it may really be true that without the expectation, we'll probably not feel upset, but it is not right to not expect; not anticipate things to happen just to avoid the agony that it might not be attained at the end.
I believe sometimes it really is not about stop expecting as a whole, but to think whether that expectation is what God wants us to be expecting. if we are expecting something that God doesn't want us to have at this moment, of course you will have to face disappointment at the end. God didn't give us the emotion of disappointment to torment us, but to challenge us whether we still trust that God has kept the best for you even when you do not get what you want. It is growing your security in God.
The verse in Luke talks about showing love without expecting anything in return. This does not contradict with anything mentioned above. We do good not to make sure we receive it back, that simply is not love at all. It isn't an issue about expectation at all.
Finally, just want to end by drawing our attention to God and how he demonstrates this. When God created man, He gave them freewill, expecting that they will obey His instructions and not eat the forbidden fruit. If God didn't have this expectation, He wouldn't be angry when they disobeyed. But God did not from there stopped loving man. Though we receive punishment, but God still meticulously watches over us. Moreover, do you not know, God is omniscient and omnipresent. This means that God knows that man is going to disobey and He is going to be upset, but He still expected. And He did so because He loves us.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Timeless

want to post this to share this new understanding that i have... recently there have been rumours regarding Lady Gaga amputating one of her leg for fashion reasons. haha well, but i'm not here to discuss whether this is true or not haha!! i believe that this brings up strong thoughts and even emotions to many. My first reaction was finding it totally ridiculous for anyone to do something so foolish. Firstly, it is doing harm to your own body. Who in the right mind would incur a disability to yourself when you can have a complete one. i think in comparison to this, suicide can be a more logical thing to do!! (but don't get me wrong, it is NOT) Second, if your reason is for the sake of fashion, it isn't a reason at all!! Fashion is subjective. Something beautiful to one may not be to another. Being a media character, all the more she should understand no matter what she does, how she looks, there will be a bunch of people who loves her crazily and at the same time a group who despises everything about her. Moreover, fashion is susceptible to time! Look at the way trends change over the years. Everything comes and goes. While what you are doing (for goodness sake) is NOT!! The equation is one way! no turning back!! DOn't you think that it is such a foolish thing to do?

Anyway, my point here is not to convince that amputating your leg for fashion reason is a foolish thing to do. Hope to zoom in on the part regarding time. Do you think it makes a difference if the time trends last is doubled or even if it will last throughout the rest of you life? In the Kingdom of God, there is no time. Because there is eternity. The time of our whole life on earth is nothing in the Kingdom of God. 80 years is nothing compared to 1,000,000,000... years agree? So doing anything for the sake of anything in this world is not worth it compared to doing something for God. Let's live timeless, looking at what God gives to us in eternity and not the things attainable on this small little planet earth.