“Pain has a way of clipping our wings and keeping us from being able to fly, and if left unresolved you can almost forget that you were ever created to fly in the first place.”
Unlike any other Christian fiction, The Shack seriously challenges the traditional imagery I had had of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in a way which left me feeling surprised, amazed and refreshed.
The past year has seen deep hurting throughout the world, and sometimes it’s all too easy to feel selfish for remembering the microcosms of individual pain which form the bigger picture. And so the fallacies are all too relatable: thinking that God has forsaken me, to the point of self-deception — that to lean on others is weakness, whereas withdrawing unto myself actually weakens me further, not least since when feeling ashamed to come before Him what I most need is His light.
2020 has been a rollercoaster for most people and it has been the same for me as well. That time where I unexpectedly did not sit my exams and instead had to wait for my results - the good thing about the pandemic. But because of the pandemic, I have spent half of my year at home doing nothing but waiting; this felt strange compared to what I did in the previous years. This also included not meeting up with any of my friends, and most importantly, not going to church in-person.
At the beginning of this year, by the grace of God I was selected to be one of the twelve participating artists for The Unveiling Arts Festival 2020. This event aims to engage people in a deeper understanding of the Gospel and the heart of God by sharing insights through the creative arts, relating to specific themes.
As August was fast approaching, I felt more and more nervous in teaching an origami class that I had agreed to do for a virtual mission with a Romanian Church in Bod. Would the kids like it? Would they understand me? Will the translator pass on my thoughts the way I want? My anxiety was ill-focused, leading me to over-prepare lesson plans and presentation slides that might not necessarily add any value.
I first came to know about God during school, as I went to a Catholic school for my primary and secondary education. In both cases, I was taught Religious Studies and attended mass as part of the school year. My parents, themselves, were not particularly religious, but occasionally we attended church as a family. Despite knowing about Jesus and God, my days of believing I was a Christian were short-lived when I went to university.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22-23
This lockdown period has certainly been an interesting test of all the fruits described in these verses. While the world is going through a health crisis, grief and heartbreak, it can seem really selfish for us to feel sorry for ourselves cooped up inside, working from home and attending church via Zoom.
God speaks to us in different ways. For me, it is often through the Bible; I tend to find that what I'm reading resonates with what I’m going through at a particular time. God’s Word is truly alive (Hebrews 4:12) and useful for application in our lives (2 Timothy 3:16)! There are times, however, that He speaks to me through a physical experience that has a spiritual lesson.
We often consider there a danger of being too relaxed when something seems so familiar, to think that without rigorous planning and preparation a mission will not see success. Yet whilst it is right to make sure we are prepared when we set out to do God’s work, it is even more important that we trust that in all circumstances God will always be able to turn the tide and ensure the bearing of great fruit.
I believe God prepares us in the form of blessings and challenges which builds up our individual resource banks of talents and experiences. One form of blessing is the giving and opportunity to develop talents. In the village of Bod, half the mission team ran music lessons (cajon, keys and guitar) for a group of children, that the church has been discipling. With reference to the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), the increase in talents can be seen through this multiplier effect in teaching and sharing.
If you asked me what I enjoy doing, I could give you an array of answers, depending on my mood - travelling, reading, running, baking, eating...the list goes on. But then if you were to ask me what (or who!) I am passionate about, there would be only one answer. His name is Jesus. God in His grace has provided me the opportunity to share about my faith and I'll share a short snippet here*. My relationship and faith in Jesus permeates every area of my being, ultimately guiding the decisions that I make and the direction of my life.
