The Rainbow Promise

Funny how adults can still learn significant lessons from children’s bible classes. I’m glad that God still teaches me humble lessons through simple ways. Children’s bible lessons can have profound lessons for adults to learn as well.

I was sitting in the primary sabbath school class with my kids and the teacher showed the Gracelink video about Noah coming out of the ark entitled “The Rainbow Promise.” It started by asking if kids have ever felt stuck at home because the rain wouldn’t stop pouring outside. Some kids can’t wait for the rain to stop and play outside again. That must have been how Noah and his family felt after being locked in the ark for more than a year.

Once all the water was gone and it was safe to disembark, Noah and his family tried to live their lives as normal as possible but of course everything was different. The land looked different and the world was quiet. The earth was unrecognizeable. They have never experienced rain and flood before and now they are seeing the devastating effects of it.

Just imagine the anxiety that Noah’s family initally experienced post flood when it finally started to rain again. “Oh no! Not again!” “Do we need to run back into the ark?” “There’s that water from the sky again! Take cover!” These are some phrases I imagine went through their heads. They must’ve had some sort of PTSD every time they saw rain, something that was now going to be a common occurrence.

Despite all the rain, however, there is a rainbow. The promise from God that he will never flood the entire world ever again. Sure, there may be local destructive flooding here and there but the entire earth will never be cleansed through water again. That tells me God cares about our mental health. He provided this bright multi colored circle in the sky to help Noah and his family not focus on what happened but what will not happen – another major flood. The rainbow provides hope and comfort to an anxious mind. Not only is it beautiful to look at, you can’t help but smile and feel at peace seeing it in the sky.

The rainbow still shows up everytime it rains to this day. It has been hundreds of years – a very, very, very long time since the first one appeared – and it never fails to show up anywhere in the world. God’s promises never fails. God never fails. Let’s surrender all of our cares and anxieties to God. May He give us the peace that passes all understanding. “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you,” 1 Peter 5:7. “Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken,” Psalm 55:22.

I have been personally asking God to send me a counselor to help me deal with mental health issues that have been coming up recently. And this is one of God’s answers to me – look at the rainbow. And ultimately, look unto God; for He is my Rock and my Salvation, the source of everything I will ever need in life.

Being Someone’s Friend

“Have you ever avoided witnessing to a person who would likely not fit well in your church? What would it take for you and your church to find sufficient grace to embrace those ‘sinners’? ”

That’s the last question on Monday’s Lesson from our current Sabbath School Quarterly  (http://www.ssnet.org/lessons/16c/less06.html). In fact, I believe the entire quarter is about being friends with people outside your religion and outside your comfort zone; how to be a good friend.

Recently I have been receiving endless Facebook messages from this one elderly man who used to attend our church. He’s known to be kind of socially awkward and have a bit of loose screws, but obviously those are judgments made by the local people. Anyway, he seems to be a nice guy; always concerned about other people. A little too concerned actually to the point of gossip and putting his nose in other people’s business.

I usually ignore his messages, especially because he sends about 50 a day and talks about other people. The reason I know this is because smart phones usually show the entire message on the very top and I am able to read them without actually opening the message. Him constantly messaging me didn’t really bother at first, but a few months later he started calling and saying that I offended him and he was calling me “sweety” and “my dear” and other things that made me uncomfortable. So I asked my friends what I should do about it and all of them said to block him.

“Block? I’ve never blocked anyone before! I feel bad!” But I did get frustrated enough that I cried. And that’s when I knew the situation had turned into harassment and protecting myself should take priority.

But the Bible is clear. Our duty as Christians is to love the unlovable. “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (Matthew 5:46 NKJV). My friend was shocked to find out I have been tolerating this for a few months when I should have blocked this “creeper” as soon as possible. And that made me reflect on my actions. Why DID I wait that long? Why was I able to tolerate it until recently? Why did I let it bother me? Why did I let this happen to me?

I was really impressed by the theme of the current Quarterly Lessons to really be a friend and reach out to the community; that the church needs to get involved in the community and together provide for their needs. What really struck my heart was the question of what my church is currently doing to be actively involved in our local community. And I realized, nothing really! We are so good at nurturing members that we tend to neglect bringing in more. And so I proposed that we start Project GLOW (Giving Light to Our World) meaning that our church give out tracts of free information to the community. And we’re planning to do It this coming September and I am really excited to be doing this project but I am extremely afraid of knocking on doors!

Along with my passion to be a friend comes the dilemma whether to stay friends or not with this man who sends me tons of messages on Facebook. Even Jesus sat with tax collectors who at the time were deemed social outcasts. So who am I to judge this man that obviously wants someone to talk to and needs a friend?

Check out this story below and reflect on it a litte:

A deacon in a local church drove a van that took the youth to an old-age home to hold a worship service every month. In the first week, while the youth were leading out, an old man in a wheelchair grabbed the deacon’s hand and held it during the service. This happened month after month. One time, when the youth group came, the man in the wheelchair was not there. The staff said that he would not likely live through the night. The deacon went to his room, and he was lying there, obviously unconscious. Taking the old man’s hand, the deacon prayed that the Lord would grant him eternal life. The seemingly unconscious man squeezed the deacon’s hand tightly, and the deacon knew that his prayer had been heard. With tears in his eyes, he stumbled out of the room, bumping into a woman who said, “I’m his daughter. He’s been waiting for you. My father said, ‘Once a month Jesus comes and holds my hand. And I don’t want to die until I have a chance to hold the hand of Jesus one more time.’”-Adapted from The Least of These, a video produced by Old Fashioned Pictures (2004).

You never know who is influenced and who is blessed by your presence in this world. Don’t shut people away unless they become dangerous or a threat. Don’t be afraid to be a friend. I have been inviting a coworker of mine to attend our outdoor church activities and he usually comes along. I know some people are worried because he’s a guy and I’m a girl which is against the norm of girls inviting other girls and guys inviting other guys. But what if this is the only chance he’s got to being exposed to Jesus? Just like the main character in the movie God’s Not Dead; he took on the challenge of his atheist teacher to present God to his classmates despite the threats of failing his class. Against lol odds, he did it for the sake of spreading the gospel.

“Nothing can lighten or brighten your way like a friend.
No one cheer you when you need them near like a friend.
No one else can understand, quite the way a good friend can,
Not a thing on earth has greater worth, than being someone’s friend.” – WWJD Radio Audio CD.

The last important point in the Sabbath School Lesson that I really like is the “Anyway Principle.” Jesus healed the sick anyway. He loves sinners anyway. Even though we hurt His heart many times, Jesus still forgives us anyway. So I hope in all this racial, social, and political madness we can all learn to be friends anyway. What would Jesus do? He would make friends.

“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15 ESV

(Images from Google)

Temporary Home

The other day I was watching Ryan Higa’s YouTube video “How to Break Bad News” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF4JsEhT_GA). He has very creative ways on how to tell someone something that is difficult to disclose, and I highly recommend you watching it! Ironically, the same morning, I received bad news from a very dear friend.

Her father has been in the hospital for a while, and the family finally decided to remove his ventilator and administer morphine to ease the process of his death. These situations are never easy. Some people prefer to take death slow. Others prefer it as a surprise. Either way, it’s never a good feeling! Especially when it’s time to break the news to everyone else.

Matthew 9:1-8 talks about the paralytic man laying in bed who was brought to Jesus to be healed. But instead of immediately saying, “Get up and walk!”, Jesus said, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

These words are excerpted from our current Sabbath School Lesson, 2nd Quarter Lesson 4, Wednesday:

“How fascinating that the first thing Jesus dealt with when the paralytic was brought before Him was the man’s spiritual condition. Jesus, obviously, knew exactly what the real problem was. Despite the man’s wretched physical state, Christ knew that the deeper issue was the man’s guilt over what must have been a very sinful life. Hence, knowing the man’s desire for forgiveness, Jesus utters what would have to be the greatest and most comforting words for anyone who understands the reality and the cost of sin: “Your sins are forgiven you”(Matthew 9:2, NKJV).

Ellen G. White adds: “It was not physical restoration he desired so much as relief from the burden of sin. If he could see Jesus, and receive the assurance of forgiveness and peace with Heaven, he would be content to live or die, according to God’s will.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 267.”

Being content to live or die – now that’s faith! On a side note, I think contentment is what caused Lucifer to fall in the first place. Of course everyone knows about his pride, but he was not content to be the glorious creature that he was. He wanted to be “like the Most High.” He was not content. The 10th commandment also tells us not to covet; in other words, be content with what you have.

In my attempt to find comforting words for my dear friend who is suffering from the loss of her father, I find that God is still in control and He has a purpose for everything. Physical restoration is not as important as our assurance that our sins are forgiven. Because when we place our hope in God, we know He will resurrect us when He comes again. Once we have faith in our relationship with God, just like the paralytic, we would be “content to live or die, according to God’s will.”

“This is my temporary Home
It’s not where I belong
Windows in rooms that I’m passin’ through
This was just a stop, on the way to where I’m going
I’m not afraid because I know this was
My temporary home.”

These are lyrics from Carrie Underwood’s song Temporary Home. It’s true: earth is not our home, but heaven. Our families will be restored; loved ones will be reunited; no more death nor sorrow.

My dear friend, we love you. We will always be here for you. But where people fail, God will always be there. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33.