Broken Watch
I've been managing this blog for almost a year now. In that one year span, my friends and I have submitted quite a few posts into this blog. However, if you check at the labels, you can see an overwhelming number of message compare to the amount of testimonies. It kept me pondering for days, "How could it be that the messages are more than the testimonies?" In a church, there are alway finite amount of messages that a pastor can preach but there is an infinite number of testimonies that people can share. Because of that, I've decided to put down my testimony here and I strongly encourage all of you to share with others too. Just email anyone of the staff here and we'll post it for you.
This is my story.
I have a broken watch with me. It had not been working properly since December. Because it is an automatic watch, there is no way to fix it except to open it and fix the spring in it. I do not have the capacity to do it. Hence I will have to adjust the watch every morning when I wake up to make sure I have the correct time for the day. Often, it will only last about a day (max) before the inaccuracy kicks in slowly. That have been the case since December 2007 until now. I was frustrated but nonetheless pleased with my broken watch. After all, it had served me well from 2004 to December 2007. I absolutely love the fact that I do not have to change the battery in my watch because there is none. O__O
I was having finals earlier this week. Guess what, my watch never slowed down. It never stopped (like every other time) and the time was surely accurate. I did not pay attention to it at first but after I finished my exam, my watch started to go back to its old habit of breaking down. Only then did I realize the miracle that just happened on the past few days.
An old broken watch that cannot be fixed unless you fix the anatomy of it was working perfectly for about 5 days during my finals week. Who could fix the watch ? I tried to find a few reasons to it. Hmmm... perhaps the weather was doing the trick. Honestly speaking, it was kind of warm (not warm, but at least warmer than winter) for the past few days but then again, once my finals was over (but the warmth was not over), my watch went back to its old self again. Lol... It can't be the weather.
Anyway, I believe it is God and even though I did not pray specifically for my watch to get healed for my finals week, I guessed God must have heard a little anxiety in my heart about the fear of getting late to class for finals and must have decided to do something for me.
Finals week was awesome and it went on smoothly. Praise God.
In His service,
Leen
9 comments:
my watch is, sadly, still broken though..
If god is so powerful, why fix the watch only during finals week? Why didn't he just fix it permanently?
Epic fail.
2Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
Okay, if something good happens, thank god. If something bad happens, also thank god and say that god works in mysterious ways.
Circular reasoning that does not make sense. Still epic fail.
Logic - you're doing it wrong.
Whatever thing that happens it happens for a reason. God has His own timing.
Assuming that God fixes things permanently, would there be any need for you to ask God again to help you with things? If everything was fine and dandy, honestly speaking...would you seek God with the same fervency?
If you were God, would you want it that way? Would you want the people that you love treat you that way?
Bad times are there so that we will seek God and learn to trust in Him. It builds character.
God has promised that He will not allow the challenge to be greater than we can handle, so He will allow just the right amount of testing and hardships so that we learn to trust in Him without being completely overwhelmed.
That's the kind of people that God wants to have worshiping Him.
And God does work in mysterious ways. Do you have infinite wisdom, that you know how the universe works? Do you know everything, that you should arrange the timing of each detail or dictate how things should work? No, only God has infinite wisdom. So, logically speaking, only He knows what is best for us.
anonymous, you strike me as someone rational enough to realize that this approach of yours really seems foolish to the other side while you feel they are foolish. arguing on a side that stands on the premise that God does not exist against one that does, is in itself illogical. thing is, framing God into logic would destroy the whole beauty of who God is. im sorry if religion seems to offend you.
Haha..Sounds abit lame right? Thank God when good things happen and thank God when bad things happen n keep repeating God works in mysterious ways...I used to think like that once...but now I feel it kinda make sense...I mean what else should we do if bad things happn? Shake your fist at God blaming him for the every imperfection in your lfe? Or maybe just take the easy way out by denying His existence?
If we do that, are we really sincerely thankful? Put it this way, if I want a toy and my mum buys it for me, I say I love her. But when she doesn't buy the things I want, I won't love her. What do you think? Is my love sincere? Does that make sense?
I would say it's not...For what I know about love is that it should be unconditional, sincere. In the same way we should thank God sincerely and unconditionally for His love and grace for us. In fact, I know many of us have a lot to thank God for, but there are certain instances that we feel it's very special to us and so we want to testify about it to thank God.
Anyway, about God working in mysterious ways, logically and actually it is correct although it may sound abit boring to repeat it every time...Do you understand the way God works? I don't...Do you? To me it is indeed mysterious and I never cease to be amazed when God turns a bad, lousy situation in my life to something wonderful, something I would never dream of! Praise the Lord!!!
Btw, I really like the way you put it..."thank god and say that god works in mysterious ways"...When things go bad, it's easy to merely say God works in mysterious way...The hard part is to thank God. It needs patients and courage...Loads of them! I too need to work on it and constantly pray that He will grant me the strength.
Oh..Just a thought, isn't it wonderful that the great God would be willing to take the time to fix Leen's watch during his finals when he needed it the most? God was not forced to do so, or did He need to do so but He did it because of love! And for that shouldn't we praise Him instead of complaining about why didn't he permanently fix it?
Erm...Thnx for taking the time to read this...I must admit I'm not a good writer..Anyway, hope to hear your reply!
It is never about us.
Many of us place ourselves at the center, while God is placed at the side. By right, God being God, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, He who is awesome in splendor, full of might and power should be at the center.
We worship Him for who He is, and not because of what we can gain from Him. We are not at the center, He is. God is not our servant where we ask and He must accomplish. In fact its the other way around. God loves us and He hears our prayers, and as Brian said, He knows what is is best for us for He is all-knowing.
We may think fixing the watch permanently is the best way, but what counts is what God thinks. He fixed it during the exam period, and His name was glorified because of His goodness being displayed to Leen. If the watch is fixed permanently, personally I feel that the act would lack meaning and impact. God has his own timing and ways. Mysterious they may be, but as proven and shown through lives of many Christians, surely it is the best and brings the most joy.
anonymus. thanks for ur question. i think that ur question is a smaller version of the many great questions troubling mankind...such as why does suffering occur is God is almoghty ....
my suggestion is this...a logical answer which might not help because these types of questions require a personal answer because suffering and problem is a personal thing...
If we escalate this broken watch problem to this scenario...that if the death of Jesus which can be said as the worse problem and cruelty in history (the death of God's son by the cruelest method despite innocence) can result in the greatest good of mankind (which we believe)...then i tink little things like these broken watch can be answered under the umbrella of the first paradox...
though we cant c good in any situation...or mayb we can cancel everything out as pure chance...God always let us to have faith that be it the watch or Jesus death...he is in control...whether we see it onot...
these question (bigger than urs but similar) cannot be answered neatly and then tucked into a drawer labelled "answer for suffering and problems"...so anonymus u should continue asking and searching with an open heart...
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