Warfare
The Taiwan High School Basketball League (HBL) semifinals took place last week. With the success of HBL in recent years, it has attracted coaches and people related to basketball from different places. Our close friend Yong-Ren Senior High School Women’s Basketball Team (below as “Yong-ren”) has got through to the semifinals for five years in a run. Despite securing confidence from many, the young warriors were unable to stand the pressure and thus lost the game.
Yong-ren has won the HBL championship twice before, some of her players were selected into the Chinese Taipei Women’s National Basketball Team, their competency is beyond question. Last few summers, they underwent training in Hong Kong while organizing Basketball Camp for our church, in which many of their players turned to Christ and got baptized. Winning or losing a game does not reflect the effort they have put in, on the contrary, to a team, “losing a game” could be the turning point to go higher. I am most impressed as they picked themselves up right after the loss. In the semi-final, the backup echelon was given chance to be the regular, being prepared for future games. Indeed! One-off gain or loss, victory or failure in life is of minimal influence. What matters most is that we stand firm, refusing to give up as we trust in the Lord!
Recently, our church is facing warfare of different levels as prayer requests for family members suffering critical illnesses from our brothers and sisters keep coming in. In such a time of sudden storms and warfare as this, we have to shake the hand of God through prayer so that we can go from victory to victory in Christ. As in the Book of Esther where the Jewish people encountered a life or death crisis, Queen Esther led the Jews in the City of Susa to pray in unity for three days and nights, after which the battle “returned in victory” for them overnight. “God reigns over all the earth” is the most crucial message of Purim.
Praise the Lord that days of warfare are also days of victory. Because of God, many brothers and sisters have experienced His healing hand of grace. The more we face difficulties, the more we realize how powerful a cell group can be as it coheres. As we pray with one heart and trust in name of the Lord, we shall experience God even more. Today, many churches are confronted with difficulties and challenges, driving them to anguish. My encouragement to my disciples of the daughter churches is this, serving the Lord is simple – lay aside everything that easily entangles our soul and mind and commit to God the great and unsearchable things, also focus on what we should and can do. Three tips I have given my disciples, first is about marriage relationship, men must scale the “mountain of laying down” which is to renounce living in solitude, please the Lord and make their wives happy with all their hearts. Next, we have to persist in having morning devotion, irrespective of number of participants, press on to read the words of God and walk in His ways.
Last but not least, let us stay faithful in discipleship because the sheep will surely follow those shepherds who willingly offer up themselves. “I will sacrifice a freewill offering to You; I will praise Your name, Lord, for it is good.” (Psalm 54:6) ¡E [2018.03.18]