Believing on the days that fall between

Happy New Year!  As I'm sitting here typing, the wife and I are watching a re-run of Pretty Woman on the cable.  Even more than the movie itself, the soundtrack really brings back a lot of memories - anyone else remember Roxette?!

According to Wikipedia, the movie was released in 1990. As we stand on the verge of 2015, that means it's been about 25 years since the teenage me sat in the cinema with my classmates and watched that movie.  25 years!  Wow.

Those 25 years have been tumultuous.  But they seem to have passed in a flash!  Thankfully, I do have some memorable milestones.  I imagine many people also have similar milestones - you know, graduation, when we get married, when our kids are born, our first jobs, our career breakthroughs, and of course our stumbles, though few of us like to talk about them.

But you know, just about everyone has similar milestones.  So what's there to make my life, or yours, special?  I've come to slowly understand that it's not about what I've done in my life, but what God has done through me, not for me, but to bless those around me.  Seeing His hand move.  For real.  With my own eyes, in my own life, and not through second hand vicarious experience.  Those are the real milestones.

Lots of interesting things have happened this year of course.  Work, PSLE and GEP for the kids, finishing my NS commitment!  But you know what one of the really memorable things was?  In August, I wrote about this rental block resident who suffered a stroke and was unable to walk or talk, or even recognise anyone (see here).  I visited him in hospital, and decided that a courageous prayer was called for.  With, I confess, much fear and trembling, and little confidence, I prayed with him that within a month, he would be out of hospital.

And you know what, in a month, he really was out of hospital.  I couldn't believe it.  Over the next couple of weeks, I visited him at his son's home, where he spent most of the day in bed or in his wheelchair.  One day, I decided another courageous prayer was required.  So I prayed with him, that his legs would be healed and he would walk again.

I think you know where this is going.  A couple of weeks ago, my wife saw him at the town centre.  Walking!  I called his son and confirmed that indeed, the old uncle had recovered and was walking again. A real life miracle.

I use this devotional called Living Life (an online version is here).  The 29 Dec devotional writes most beautifully - "Faith is believing when we do not see, believing on the days that fall between the miracles."  What the devotional is trying to get at is that God continues to work in all the days between the miracles, even when we don't see Him visibly move.  But the fact is that there are miracles, between which we live out the day to day.  More than the self-centred blessings that we tend to ask for in our career, our wealth and our childrens' studies, they are milestones and guideposts to show that we are continuing to walk with Him.  So we need to look for these guideposts.

The 30 Dec devotional has another gem - "If a child is putting together a rock collection, he will be blessed by the gift of a broken piece of earth." What the devotional is saying is that if you're only looking for the mundane, you'll be satisfied with the mundane.  It's a sobering thing to be reminded that we may only be chasing rocks and mud!

In the New Year, I'd like to remind myself, and ask my friends and family - is our resolution merely to look for rocks and bigger rocks?  Are those the milestones we're looking for?  Or are we ready to say - open my eyes, if You're here, I want to see You, and I want to look for your milestones as I walk through the year.

Blessing all my friends and family with a New Year in which you will seek and find the One who loves you, and so live the memorable, abundant life that God has planned for you! :)


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