Saturday, January 14, 2006

little jabs

you know how sometimes when we feel like God is ignoring us, we pray:

"dear Lord, please talk to me. show me things. if You really hear me, please make lampard have a really bad flu (cuz i don't have the heart to ask for an injury) for the rest of the season. or make the lightning arrange itself into letters that spell out whatever You want me to do. i wanna hear You! amen."

we all expect some huge sign to pop out of nowhere, some very obvious message from God, like the parting of clouds and a beam of light shining on you.

but what we don't count on is that God loves to poke us with little jabs instead of big big punches on the arm. it's just up to us to respond or ignore those jabs.

there was an ushers' meeting this evening before service. it was at 5pm, a full 1 1/2 hours earlier than the time ushers are normally expected to meet for briefings.

plus the heavens had opened up and there was a torrential downpour outside. no doubt a nightmare for a reluctant driver like me.

i have an exam on monday. the countdown makes sure i'm reminded of that. i still have to review lipid metabolism because i'm almost certain that it will be asked.

i also have two football matches to watch, one of which was the 840pm manchester derby that, for some reason, man utd lost - if you want a full taunting courtesy of probably eyeris or...ok, most likely eyeris, please go here. i only caught the last 10 depressing minutes cuz was at church - and the liverpool vs spurs fourth-place tussle which has now unfortunately turned into a fight for second.

besides that, my bed looked especially tantalizing, what with the rain pouring down outside and a nice mug of coffee sharing a spot with my stacks of notes on my table.

it was very tempting to just skip the ushers' meeting, take a short nap, have dinner, and wait till the rain stops before heading to service.

or worse still, send my head usher an sms saying i won't even show up. then i would have been able to watch the entire derby.

but God gave me a little jab.

"eh, go for the meeting la."
"dowan."
"go la. the rain's stopped for a while. go."
"DOWAN."
"haiyah don't argue with me, can? just go lah. go. shoo."

so i reluctantly got out of bed, dressed, grabbed my bible and wallet, and went to church.

the rain was unforgiving. the roads were flooded and i couldn't see a thing. it's only now, after having driven in a full rainstorm, complete with a lightning show (no letters arranged, though), that i understand why people get so pissed off with drivers who turn on their hazard lights in heavy rain.

it's confusing lah! i mean, i don't even know if the feller is stalled ke or is still moving! whether to change lane or not! yeesh!

anyway, it wasn't a pleasant drive. i was seriously freaking out.

and it was then that God gave me another jab. i received an sms while driving and, after determining that i wasn't gonna move anywhere for the next 2 minutes, i checked it out.

ok fine, not being a good example. i hope potential drivers aren't reading this.

the message was from my friend lili, and it was a forwarded message containing words of comfort. the one that hit me most was: God is behind you - to protect you.

o_O

well, i got to church (safely, praise God!), and found out that *surprise surprise*! i was scheduled to be on duty...today! i didn't know that!

it was like a huge burden lifted off me!

you see, i'm going to singapore next weekend (yay!) and won't be attending service. i thought i'd be on duty next week. which means i'd have to break the news to my head usher that i won't be able to make it next week, and the week after next because of chinese new year.

which is bad. cuz i've missed usher duty twice last month and was a bit the irresponsible about it (sorry michelle!), so i'm doing my ultimate best never to miss usher duty again for no good reason.

but hey! God gave me another jab and said, "now, aren't you glad you resisted the temptation to lie, trusted Me with your safety on the road, and came here? now you can go to singapore in peace and celebrate chinese new year with neither guilt nor burden!"

i sure am glad, Lord. i sure am. *jabs Him back*

haha. =P

lishun at 11:18 AM

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