You're in a crisis. A deadline is looming closer. The cost of inaction is increasingly painful and hard to ignore. There are different voices around you. Cynics say do everything you can to save yourself. Pessimists say nothing you do is going to make a difference. Christians say turn to Jesus – He is the Rock to lean on. The voice of pragmatism says take everything with a pinch of salt. Who will you listen to?

The Oxford dictionary defines trust as a "firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something". Conventional wisdom says that people need to prove that they are reliable and true to what they say they are before they can be trusted. We want proof of loyalty because no one likes to be taken in and get disappointed. But how much proof is enough before we allow ourselves to trust anyone? 

MONEY MATTERS are neither secular nor spiritual but our financial decisions reveal how alive and active the Word of God is in us. Therefore, it is important to talk about the role of money, wealth and possessions in our lives because it helps us to become better and more effective followers of Jesus Christ. Not surprisingly, there are in fact over 2000 Bible verses that mention money, wealth and possessions. This goes to show that they are indeed matters of the heart and the heart of all matters relating to the quality of our lives.

Whether we are rich, poor or in-between, whenever we let money, wealth and possessions become our identity, our self-worth becomes distorted when we have much, and when we lose it, we find ourselves facing an existential crisis.

It’s not unusual for us to play down our needs when someone asks the question, What do you want me to do for you? Maybe we want to avoid embarrassment. Or the relationship lacks the vulnerability that makes disclosure safe. Or perhaps we haven’t really figured out what we need because we have settled into whatever circumstances life has thrown at us. Our internal dialogue says Suck it up, roll with the punches, don't have expectations and you'll not be disappointed. In reality, such thinking not only does not facilitate our faith growth, it also demonstrates a lack of maturity.

Some of us say He is love, some say He’s faithful and awesome. To others, God is a Father and their Saviour. Who God is to us informs how we have personally experienced Him in our lives. He personifies love to the lonely and brokenhearted. He is the faithful God who stays when those we thought would stand by us bailed out. He is a Father who heals our broken relationships with our earthly fathers, and restores us to His fatherhood. Who God is to us becomes the testimonies embedded in the biography of our lives that others see.

International travellers know that their passports, though important proof of identity and residency, do not give them passenger boarding rights. They need travel tickets to show that they have reserved seats for their passage and they need to stay in their seats for their journey. In the same way, we must not make the mistake of thinking that our identity as children of God assures us that we will surely arrive in heaven when our earthly lives come to an end.

Most of us have a pretty good idea of what our skills and strengths are because we know what it takes to get a job done, and even exceed expectations in the daily grind. But are we as confident when asked what our real passion is?

ARE YOU ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE who analyze things to death? Or do you over-intellectualize every experience to avoid facing your own vulnerability? Both are defense mechanisms that will get you stuck, especially when you face setbacks. Instead of taking refuge in Jesus as your resurrected Saviour, you retreat to the voice of human reasoning and response.

We say that man and machines are inseparable but even machines can lose their efficacy over time. We are often updating the operating systems on our devices, sending our cars for scheduled preventive maintenance, and needing to repair or replace household appliances when they fail to operate at their optimum level.

Just like machines, Christians, too, can fail to thrive in their spirit after a while. We may find ourselves constantly striving in survival mode – having all the appearances of a busy life but spiritually languishing inside. Instead of flourishing in the discovery of new strengths and hope through different seasons and leaning on Jesus, the Vine, who sustained us, we pride ourselves in terms of what we had survived – personal or professional setbacks and hardships.

We’ve all had sorbet, smoothie, pudding or cakes made with our favourite fruits from lychee, fresh coconut, mango, kiwi or high-grade durian. Although they look nothing like the real fruit, they are skillfully created to deliver the smell and taste like the real thing, and sometimes even similar nutritional value. The only difference is once you finish it, you won’t find any seeds that produce the real fruit.

This throws a question for us individually as believers: am I a fruity or fruitful Christian? Have I picked up all the superficial mannerisms of Christian-likeness and less of the demanding characteristics of Christ-likeness? Do I go to great lengths to be a member of the ‘right Christian crowds’ but hardly ever step out to make meaningful and enduring connections with anyone?

To be sure, this has nothing to do with how long one has been a Christian, if one is first- or second-generation Christian, or which church one attends. In fact, there is no membership in the world that guarantees automatic fruitfulness in the life of a believer. Rather, John 15:1-8 tells us that God is the Gardener, Jesus is the Vine, and we are the branches. Knowing that we only become branches when we are attached to Jesus (the Vine) removes all ambiguity about how to live a fruitful life.

 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (v1-2).

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME you quietly told God about a desire and then miraculously experienced what you desired? Did you think it was a random act of kindness from God because He thought you needed a little pick-me-up that day? Or is it because God cares and He responds when we bare our hearts to Him?

To be honest, most of us think of our desire as a topic to avoid with God. We tell ourselves, “Not my will but His be done!”, convinced that we do not need to tell an all-knowing God what we really want, what really matters to us, what we dislike or struggle with. We confuse self-awareness with self-centredness and allow ourselves to become frigid and transactional with God. We may ask Him for a job, to heal us of a long-term disorder, or to restore a broken relationship but we hold back telling Him the feelings, anxieties and hurts behind the ask. We’re content with skin-deep transformations and ‘feel-good’ reliefs. Yet God wants to do so much more in our lives than to give us only superficial outcomes. He wants us to grow in a mature self-awareness that leads to a greater compassion for others.

There are generally two categories of people in our lives: those who empower us to be more than we settle for, and those that enable our settledness in spite of the absence of personal growth. It’s hard to straddle being in the company of both groups because our growth will engender new conversations that make the ‘settled’ group feel uncomfortable and our settledness will frustrate the growth group.

In the same way, it’s near impossible to love God and embrace ‘settledness’ because God’s love is not a feel-good doctrine that guarantees ‘settledness’ as a way of life.

So how do we know when someone loves God, really loves God? If you’ve recently met a new bride or groom, you could easily tell that they are in love. Their body language, energy and conversations give off effusive vibes about their newfound joy. They are always conscious about what the other likes or dislikes, and ready to make adjustments and changes to keep the relationship healthy. Even couples who have been married for years long to continue being loved and loving someone in return. The Bible describes this longing so poetically in Song of Songs 8:5, ‘Who is this coming up from the wilderness leaning on her beloved?’

In early 2020, when humanity was in the throes of a fast-spreading pandemic, a church in the US released a song based on Numbers 6:24-27. Overnight, groups and churches recreated their versions of the song on YouTube in different languages as a show of human solidarity, resilience and hope. They were simply singing four Scripture verses!

Indeed, these short verses demonstrate the heart of God – His indefatigable love and mercy towards humanity. These were the same verses that God had given Aaron and his sons, through Moses, to bless the Israelites during a time when there was disobedience and rebelliousness among God’s people.

WHAT MAKES OUR RELATIONSHIPS STRONG? Do we nurture our connections with empathy and interest, or do we assume that friendships always pick up from where they were left off? Do we only have friends who accept friendship on our terms? If so, we need to examine how equitably we have treated others.

Aristotle once said, ‘Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow-ripening fruit.’ This is a truism that also applies to our relationship with God, our Father. He loves it when His children talk to Him spontaneously with the confidence that He is with us all the time! So we cannot expect to enjoy an intimate relationship with Him if we only want Him to respond on demand and on our terms.

You don’t need to read many stories about Jesus to get the impression that, whether in private or in public, the Lord never cared about handing out instant responses or easy answers to anyone.

Jesus was only 33 when He was crucified, yet He lived a fuller life than most of us who are way past that age. He wasn’t contented to just settle for believable alternatives but instead made several hard choices. Because He had the emotional fortitude to handle difficult emotions without the need for forced smiles and platitudes, He never cared about reacting in ways that made Him more relatable and preferred instead to engage people in ways that had lasting effects. In short, He did not live a life of performative existence but one that truly fulfilled God’s call, in unexpected ways.

Christians are all too familiar with the famous passages describing Jesus’s disciple Peter walking on water. We are impressed with Peter’s bold statement to Jesus in Matthew 14:28, ‘‘Lord, if it’s You, tell me to come to You on the water.’’

Consider how this statement translates into clickbait titles today: ‘First Man To Walk On Water’, ‘Witnesses Reported Man Walking On Water’, ‘The Stunt That Made Peter Stand Out’, ‘Jesus’ Disciple Tanked After Few Steps On Water’, or  ‘Did Peter WoW (Walk On Water) For A Promotion?’.

Imagine being jolted, tossed around, turned upside down as you are carried at high speed and then dropped from a dizzying height. It is a full-body experience of extremities but you are told to remain seated and keep still at all times without twisting or shifting your body in a way that may compromise your safety.

To be sure, roller coaster rides are not for the faint-hearted. In many ways, so is life. While most of us are not thrill-seekers who go after extreme experiences, life has its way of throwing us into turmoil, turning our lives upside down, and jolting every shred of faith we have in a loving God.

So what do we do when our normalcy no longer looks familiar and everything going on in our lives looks hell-bent to crush us mentally and emotionally?

ON MOST DAYS, MOST OF US pretty much navigate life on our own. But as soon as we experience something that shakes us up and shatters our normalcy, we instantly become more aware of who we can call upon for support and comfort.

Think back to the last time you went through a personal ordeal. Did you consider how God would help or if He was even available? Did you think He might be busy with more important things of a grander scale than your mini crises? Or maybe you thought you were being tested by God, so you decided to wing it quietly on your own. But over time, an insuppressible cry for relief, resolution and results began to surface in your consciousness and form itself into four words: GOD, WHERE ARE YOU?

If there is one role that people perennially feel underqualified for, being a parent would surely make the list. Indeed, nothing can adequately prepare parents to raise up their children without making mistakes along the way.

So, what does being ‘unqualified’ mean? It refers to not having official recognition as a practitioner of a particular profession or activity through having satisfied the relevant conditions or requirements. If we consider the parental role, how it involves multiple skill sets and yet is never considered paid labor and never shows up in the gross domestic product (GDP) of any economy, we can say that it pretty much fits the bill.

As the world re-opens for travel, many naturally imagine how things can finally go back to the way they were. There is something ‘good’ about ‘the good old days’ even though this itself is a precarious premise. For believers, however, this is also a time for an important self-assessment: how have I lived differently for God in the past two years?

If COVID-19 had been a test for how you have been living out your life purpose as a Christian, how would you score yourself? To be sure, we all want to know that since the time COVID-19 disrupted all normalcy as we knew it before, we have become better connected with other humans, and at the same time, discovered ways to live and relate that no longer depend on what comes to us conveniently.