late!

8 Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, [2] 10 said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking. 11 And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, 15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” 18 Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.Acts 14:8-18

As i was reading these verses, somehow i was reminded of preachers and workers of the "gospel" who took the glory that was supposed to be for God to him/herself. These verses struck me and reminded me strongly that I should always remember to bring the glory back to Him.

This is the one thing that I often failed.

Take last summer camp for example. That was the first time i was given the opportunity to lead a group of strangers who are from a completely different cultural background than me. If you ask all my friends, you can know that i was completely stressed out before coming to camp and during the camp. I was scared that I wouldn't be able to lead well, I was scared that what I do would be fruitless, i was scared that people wouldn't like me, i was scared that the things that i do are not worthy enough, i was scared that i wouldn't be able to make loads of friends, i was scared of many things.

Not only that, the fact that there were many other "misfortunes" (to my selfish little self) it brought to me more fear and depression and self-pity.

But these verses taught me about the many aspects of being "bold" for His gospel. It meant that we fully trust God for whatever it is that we are doing - and relying on His strength, His grace, His mercy and His love for us. This means that even when everything is not going according to the ways that we wanted it to be - we still trust Him. This means that we give God space for Him to work in our life. When all of this is faithfully done, we are sure to give the praises back to Him because He was the one who had done it all in our life. All that we are is just a witness of His power and might and greatness and goodness in our life. That is all - whatever good works that we did is His. Whatever talents, great things that we can do or say - they are His, He was the One who did it and said it through us. IT was only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can do all things. It was never ours.

Prayer points:

Please pray that we can be like Barnabas and PAul - fully aware that their works are God's - that they deserve none of the glory that are God's. Pray that we can be faithful and bold just like Paul and Barnabas - fully trusting in God and who He is and His power and might - not on ourselves.

Amen