Hello my friend…care to join me for some thoughts of mine?
Some like it country-style. Some like it heavy-metal. General pop are easily liked, while it's harder to find appreciative listeners of opera and classicals. Music, the universal language to our soul. It seems to follow through the seasons of our life, well-appreciated for inner reflections within, as well as outward expressions of our heart and soul.
How about movies?
Action and adventure. Comedies. Animations. Documentries and Mockumentaries. Drama. Science fiction and Musicals. Epics and War. You name it, we have it. All at our fingertips to bring us places we could only dream of or be reminded of. We have our own preferences of a 2-3 hour trip or escape to an alternate reality or world.
There are the doctors who treat and cure, teachers who impart and educate. Sports personnel who thrill and excite us in their respective fields, soldiers who fight for and defend the land. Artists and sculptors amaze us with their expressions of creativity, while counselors remind us that there is hope and that we’re not so alone after all. Jobs and vocations, a path of livelihood for all, an identity lived out by some. Choices abound for this source of fulfillment and purpose in life.
Adrenalin pumping sports. Reading for reflections and delighting the mind. Beautifying the surrounding with a gardening touch. Satisfaction of having that rare and complete set of stamp, coin or bottle collection. Weaving a picture with delicate fingers sewing it by the threads. Challenging the mind with crosswords, or exciting it with computer games. Some like the quiet comfy indoors, while others dig at the sweat and sun of the outdoors. Hobbies and interests form an extension of our characters as we find connection with people and pleasures in them.
Speaking of characters…there are the introverts and extroverts. The thinker, and the feeler. Some ponder and conceptualize quietly in the background, while others are quick to act. Some prefer to follow, while others come forth instinctively with their leadership. We have our own quirks and comfort zones of relating.
For something as simple as clothing, accessories or food, we already have a barrage of choices of sizes, colors, designs, flavours and tastes to choose for what we really like.
We are all unique individuals. So huge and abundant is the world we live in, for us to find our belonging, identity, fulfillment, likes and dislikes. As big as the world is, we are different and diverse enough for conflicts to happen. Can anyone by himself/herself claim to be trouble free, fully satisfied with all needs met? Is there any spouse, confidant or best friend whom we can really say is fully understanding, ever faithful and present? Do we even fully understand ourselves? Is there really something that’s “One size fits all” where we can all universally say “This is it!”
What if we consider HIM?
Many call Him by the name of Jesus. Or Son of God. Healer. Redeemer. Friend. Father. Brother. Savior. Warrior. King. Lamb of God.
For once….it’s not out of disagreement or conflicting interests. Rather, it all compliments one another. Everything adds up to the testimony of His vastness. The many facets of His greatness and promises, universally testified by all who would acknowledge their state of need and struggle.
Could it be because…He’s our creator? The only One to know us more intimately and better than ourselves?
He sings His very own peace, presence, grace, joy and strength over and within us through the seasons in our life...He is THE song of our life.
He is the swashbuckling hero who rescues us, the ageless romancer who wins our hearts and brought to reality the greatest love story ever known. He brings us to places and reveals plots we could never imagine. We are in THE story with Him.
He gave us the body, ability and creativity to excel in our field of craft, and the purpose for our excellence in giving our best in what we do.
He showed by example of what it means to take delight in the simple pleasures of life and relational fellowship.
We are special and unique because of His personal touch and unique stamp of watermark in creating and crafting us. We find our identity and essence of being in Him, which He loves unconditionally.
O LORD, You have searched me and You know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
You are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
You know it completely, O LORD.
You hem me in—behind and before;
You have laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Where can I flee from Your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, You are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there Your hand will guide me,
Your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to You;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to You.
For You created my inmost being;
You knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from You
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
Your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in Your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with You.
[Psalm 139:1-18]
The psalm may have come from the mouth of David. But flip the coin, and you'll find that it's a description of His love and longing for us. How much clearer can He put it across to us?
The words are for the skeptic. The disappointed. The betrayed. The abandoned. The one who's done too many wrongs. The one who's in bondage. The one who's had it easy in life. The successful ones. The self sufficient ones. The needy. The losers. Those who are angry, burdened, ashamed, forgotten, lonely, messed up. For you. For me.
Hard to believe?
Ponder together with the disciple who would never hear a cock crow the same away ever again, as he reflects his own foolish betrayal and denial, and His gracious restoration.
Listen to the psalms of the shepherd boy who experienced the high of slaying a giant with a sling stone, and the king who who committed adultery and lost his children.
Tap on the shoulder inquisitively of the man who had the honour of teaching and guiding the Creator of the world in the ways of carpentry, or his wife who gave birth to the King, only to see Him crucified helplessly.
Ask the boy with the empty basket, how many can 5 loaves and 2 fishes feed.
Hear the groom recount at his anniversary, of how he was spared the embarrasment during his wedding with water-turned wine.
Ask the man who washed his hands off Jesus’s trial in an attempt to appease the crowd, of how long it took before he could sleep peacefully at night.
Number the stones left aside on the ground together with the lady caught in adultery.
Or if you would prefer, find out from the thief upon the cross who found acceptance into heaven, with a lifetime of mistakes and a moment of realization and repentance.
But above all, ask the One who chose the path of the cross because of our path of disobedience, who desires to be so intimately entwined with every moment of our life, to cover us with all that He has to offer.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23 - 24
One for all, indeed.
