Looking Beyond

“The frog said to the other frog in the well, ‘We have the biggest reservoir in the world!!!’. But it is only because all the water that they have ever seen is the one they are living in.” Rei

4pm – I was struggling if I ought to continue with the topic which I had wanted to write since the week before but yet just couldn’t find my brain and fingers working well with it. Took a 15 seconds time out, said a little prayer and here I am writing on the contrast of the lives of people just by reading the paper today.

I read with much regrets how the ex-president of Seoul had committed suicide due to corruption scandal involving his family and how the police might put charges of fraud against him. How this man had put in “tireless effort “ for the country in the past years and retired last year in the rural home town only to commit himself to such an end.

I also read with sadness about the state of Colombo where houses were shattered, vehicles fell to its side or overturned due to the shelling of the warfare between the government and the rebels. The result of the war in which at least 7,000 were killed and at least 300,000 people living in refugee camp which people are staying in tents.

Then I read of how our government is putting in $68 millions boost for the students. How the government is aiding families with kids still going to school to cope with the recession which has hit globally. How blessed!

The contrast between the 1st and 2nd account – there are people who are fighting to survive and yet there are people who simply take their lives. Some people take their lives out of the pressure they created in it and some out of purely the root reason of the emptiness of live.

The contrast between the 2nd and the 3rd account – While other people are suffering in a condition beyond our imagination, there are also people who are ignorance of how blessed we are in a condition that people can never imagine.

I am not making comparison here but am challenging all of us (myself included) to look beyond being the frog in a little well that we might be in.

It is simply because of how blessed we are that we sometimes no longer count our blessings. We take it for granted that there will always be enough food and go on wasting it out of the abundance. Sometimes, do we not buy things not out of necessity but just out of “wants” or maybe it is just “cheap” to us?

“Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” Luke 12:15

It might be because we are living in a country of access, we are never satisfied with abundance that we have. Or maybe it is because of our upbringing, due to the competitiveness of the system, we have developed the attitude of wanting to be better than anyone. Regardless the case, do you not realize that at the end of all that you can contained or have attained in this lifetime for yourself alone, you will not be able to bring it along with you when your time is up?

"A generous man will himself be blessd, for he shares his food with the poor." Proverbs 22:9

Will you open our eyes and look beyond where you are? Will you start to look out for all the little blessings that you might taken for granted and give thanks for it?

Will you learn to treasure the little that you have and in turn be a BLESSING to others by sharing with them what you have instead of wasting it unneccessarily?

What are You Living for?

“Just as the number in age goes up and never comes down. So it is with TIME. It slips us by and never returned. Are you too busy for the wrong reason?” Rei


3rd of May 2008, it was work as usual, but the headline on the newspaper had an impact in my heart as a Cyclone had hit Myanmar the previous day in which we saw many thousands dead, homeless or helpless. Perhaps then even as I can recall now, I have tried to live life as it is just by following up with the news and having a sense of sympathy for the people. But on the 12th of May, the plates of the earth moved again. This time it is China, Si Chuan. It was a horrendous sight as we see many young lives taken, homeless, disabled or orphanage due to a major Earthquake. My steps grew heavy as I stepped out of the door having read the headline with many thoughts running through. But once in the office, I had to be back to the usual self as I battled through the day once again in the corporate world of sales with a team I was leading. It was just the usual routine in which the clock ticked away late into the night with myself all exhausted, longing to be in bed and putting all my thoughts or feelings away.

The next day, as I was having lunch with one of my colleague and I asked if her husband is fine as he works in China that I came to the realization – “My dad is in China!” Yes, he is not staying with me and we don’t communicate frequently. Even so, that was not a reason for me to forget that he is in China. Shocked – I was. I remembered tears were piling up at the tip of my eyes even though I did not cry. Those tears were not because of shock, it was simply because of disappointment. Disappointment with myself as how can I forget my own dad’s where about?!? I quickly picked up the phone and tried to make contact with him but both the China and Singapore number didn’t work. It was only in the later part of the day that I managed to contact him to know that he is safe and sound and just returned to Singapore! At the end of that uneventful day, I was frustrated with myself. I had to face the question which had been asking me for the past 2 months or should I say be avoiding for the past 2 years or more – “What am I doing with my life?”

As the news of the tragedy continued to escalate, at the end of the month – I left my job (I have state clearly that this is not the main reason why I left my job then though it did play a part of it). It is not that my boss doesn’t pay me well. In fact, I must say I must be thankful for the salary given as it almost doubled my previous employment (not to mention I still had commission and bonuses). Within a short period of corporate working experience and with the qualification I possess, I must say I went up the corporate ladder rather fast to attain the position I was at and I was thankful for it. But it was also clear to me that I know how I have chose to allow myself to be robbed of the time and energy in things which I know one fine day, will just be of no value and vanished away. Was it worth it all then? In addition, have I become a salve to money or follower of the trends of the world? Isn’t there a more meaningful way in which I can devote myself in?

Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that we have to quit our job or it is not good to work. In fact, we are made to work! We should also give of our best at work but work should not be all that there is in life. We do not live only to work! It is the balance we have to attain that matters. Is your work getting so overwhelming that your mind thinks only about work? Is all your time so consume with work that you have time for nothing else? If it is, it is a major out of balance! It will be good for you to question about the motivation in which you are working for? It is perhaps good to take time and sit down and re-evaluate your life. I am not cursing you but think with me. At death bed, is work all you want to recall at the final moment of life? Are you going to regret over the people you have failed to treasure more?

You have to remember that all that you can attained, be it wealth or accomplishments or recognition or success cannot be brought along with you when it is time to depart from this world. In this world that we are living in, it is so often said, “Time is money”. Time is indeed the greatest commodity in our hands because it can never be reverse.

“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15,16

How can you spend time more meaningfully then? Would you then invest your time more wisely in the light of eternity?

I'm Forgiven

“There is the light of life awaiting you if you willing to step pass the cloud unto the light that forgives.” Rei


There is this friend of mine who is maybe 10 years younger than I am. When I got to know him, he was just a kid. Now he is a Bible colleague student in America. We only got acquainted again last year due to a mission trip to Philippine under the same organization. During the 1st week, we didn’t really get to interact much as we were always moving in different stations. It was during the 2nd week when there were only 5 of us left that we once again rekindled the friendship that was left behind in the past. During that week of mission and fellowship, I will actually tease him at times with such a statement, “Oh… This is how you treat me after how I have taken care of you as an older brother!?!” To which he will reply, “Now you know how Jesus feels!” To this day, it has been a good illustration for me as and when I need to do any sharing at times. But do I really know how Jesus, the Greatest Forgiver of all time, felt then?

There at the cross after being betrayed; Left behind and all alone; Insulted and accused for what He had not done; Being spat at and slapped many times on the face; Whipped 39 times by the Roman whip; Being stripped of by the purple robe which was stick to the skin due to the blood by whipping that was dried; Having a crown of thorn pushed into the skull of His head; Having to carry the cross to the Calvary after all these; Nailed to the cross through the nerve slightly lower than the wrists that will send an electric shock to the whole body; Being hung there to suffered thirst and breathlessness; And continue to be mocked by perhaps even some of the people who had followed Him even though He was suffering for the sake of us all, yet He made the below statement:

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Luke 23:34

Within the week that has just passed, this has become a statement which I have come to realize that I might not have been to comprehend and grasp it completely. Even in the midst of the all above account that has taken place, Jesus still seeks the Father to pardon us of our ignorance and most importantly, our wrongdoings!

In the society of Singapore in which we have been well fed, filled with many comforts and conveniences, it is no surprise if people tend to take things or even people for granted. In addition to the technology of this age, miscommunications are frequent due to the increasing lack of ability to communicate. People are also communicating at a level of their own convenience or might even launch personal attacks via technology as it is so easy to do so. The truth of the fact is, as long as there is interaction with people, there is bound to be conflicts. These conflicts can be due to insensitivity, pride, indifference, self-centeredness, assumption etc. You name it, you have it!

Thus, though many appear to be good and well on the outside but are crying and hurting on the inside as the best ways to cause hurt is but through "WORDS". We are perhaps living in the highest rate of undisclosed insanity. The biggest root to mental illness is due to bitterness which is derived from an unforgiving spirit.

Forgiveness is so greatly needed in this time and age but there is a limit to the mere human forgiveness. It is only when we come to realization that all that we have went through is nothing compared to how much Jesus suffered and died for our sake, then we will only be able to forgive and let go of the heavy burdens of the past - A past which perhaps has been dragging us down with guilt, unhappiness and anger.

True forgiveness can only be attained from God. It is because the source of such forgiveness can only be found from the selfless sacrificing love from God. The Father who sent His son to die for all sins (wrongdoing). I reckon that if I were to be where my Saviour was at Calvary and to hear Him says, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” I might have break down completely in tears. It is not purely because I'm forgiven but because of this LOVE which is beyond the limits of the outer space. This LOVE that generates True Forgiveness! It is because I know how much I'm forgiven, there is nothing for me to hold against as nothing can be compare with what He has went through for us!

The solution then to true forgiveness - Ask God to forgive you and ask God to let you see life in His light that you may also be able to forgive and let go!