Thursday 6 January 2011

today's quiet time.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away. 

Mark 13:31



You know how people quote this verse so often, then follow-up with a testimony or so about how God always keeps His promises?

I always found that fascinating, because right before that verse, Jesus said:

Truly I tell you, 
this generation will certainly not pass away 
until all these things have happened.
Mark 13: 30
"All these things", i.e.:
  • Wars (v.7)
  • Earthquakes & famines (v.8)
  • Suffering & persecution (v.9)
  • Incarceration [kena buang penjara] (v.11)
  • Betrayal & rebellion within the family that may lead to death (v.12)
  • Hatred (v.13)
  • Days of distress unequaled from the time of creation (vv.13-20)
  • Deception (v.22)
  • The sun and moon will refuse to shine (v.24)
  • Terror in the sky (v.25)

If the Bible had stopped there, I may as well wish to die right now.

But it didn't. 

  • Jesus Christ will return in glory. (v.26)


People everywhere are summarizing how 2010 was for them. I don't feel like doing that, because the things that happened starting the middle of that year have kinda overshadowed whatever awesome things I may have experienced at the start of the year.

If I had to summarize 2010, I would simply say, 

Uncertainty.
this is my favourite pao which the cafe sometimes didn't have. gah!
Uncertainty is something very foreign to me. Because besides the usual directionlessness on the road, I've always known what I wanted in and from life (except for the time I realized I couldn't be an astronomer anymore cuz I hated Physics the moment I wrote my first formula in Form 4. Even then, I was absolutely certain I hated Physics. See.)

The other time I was very uncertain was when I had to decide between a church, a ministry, and a fellowship in 2009.

I document everything I see and hear because of the need for control. When stress gets too overwhelming, I start organizing my folders and documents and shelves because it makes me feel like I'm in control of something. Anything.

2010 wasn't a very good year. I felt lost most of the time. 

Sometimes things were okay, 
sometimes they weren't.
I stopped guessing after awhile.


like this toilet roll - i felt wasted.

I realized that control was an illusion, as Ellie Satler put it in The Jurassic Park

Reading this passage, I thought,

In a world so full of uncertainty, even if there are more dire prophecies than happy ones, it does bring me comfort to know that because it was Jesus Christ who said it, it would come to pass. 

Just because it was Jesus Christ who said it.

And He never has to promise. 
He just says it. 

"I tell you the truth"
"Assuredly, I say to you"
"My words will never pass away"

He never has to promise.
Because He will always keep His word.

With Jesus Christ, there is certainty.

Certainty.

The name of today's page in the journal.

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