Consuming Fire

Hebrews 12:29 “For our God is a consuming fire.” Earlier this week we celebrated my eldest son Kyan’s 10th birthday with a barbeque. I love bbqs because I love the camaraderie. I love bbqs because of the tastey food. But I really love bbqs because I love fire. When I was 8 I got caught for lighting a match in school. 3 years later I got suspended for setting a paper towel on fire in science class. In the bible fire represents the Holy Spirit, so while some might say I was acting out, I prefer the interpretation that I was prophetically acting on a yet-to-be born fascination with the spiritual. Usually I have no problem firing up a charcoal grill, but damp kindling and a lack of lighter fluid had me stuck the other day. I burned countless pages of newspaper trying to get the charcoal to catch. I sat fanning the flame for literally two hours. To the untrained eye, there was almost no sign of progress, but eventually something just clicked and the pile of coal burst into flames. Last night at the online prayer gathering for my friend, one of his church leaders shared about another church member who had also gone into a coma some years back. The community came around him to cry out to God in prayer. Nothing really seemed to change, but after three weeks of contending and covering, he just woke up in what appeared to be a medical miracle. I sometimes struggle to answer when folks ask me how my friend is doing. Modern medicine would say that there’s no visible sign of progress. He’s still in a coma. There’s wet kindling and a lack of lighter fluid. But we know that persistent fanning of tiny embers of hope can lead to a spontaneous outbreak of the spirit. So while we submit our will to God’s, we also have faith for the supernatural. Lord, nothing is impossible with you. We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. We love you. In your son’s name, Amen.

Amazing Ava

James 1:3 “…because you know the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” At the end of 2019 my friends Choon Hiong and Bianca encountered a terrible tragedy. Out of nowhere, their four and a half year old daughter, Ava, suffered multi-organ failure and her body shut down completely. I’m not a doctor, but I’m pretty sure that means she was medically dead for over 40 minutes. They eventually managed to resuscitate her, which in and of itself is a miracle, but she had lost pretty much all mental and bodily function. I visited Ava several times in the hospital and have been praying for miraculous healing alongside her family. Bianca recently wrote a letter to Ava for her 6th birthday. I cried when I read it, and she gave me permission to share it here today. --

Dear Ava,

It’s been 17 months since I last heard you speak. I can’t begin to describe how much I miss the silly conversations we had, the videos I used to take of you and the little tantrums you used to throw. You were always a feisty girl, full of character and life.

I never thought that you would be celebrating your 6th birthday in this way, still immobile and unable to speak. Yet, 17 months ago, the doctors were telling us that you might not make it through the night, much lest celebrate any more birthdays.

I still dream of you often. I dream that we are talking or playing or laughing. It used to fill me with great sadness when I woke up and reality hit me, recognizing that you still couldn’t do any of that. Sometimes it still does.

But I’m not the same person that I was 17 months ago. I’ve become a better mother and a better Christian. I used to wonder why I was specially chosen for this tragedy. While I didn’t rail at God, I really couldn’t accept what had befallen us. At the hospital, when the doctor told me you had multi organ failure, I remember asking him to take any of my organs if it would save your life, even my heart. But there was nothing I could do. By God’s grace, I didn’t have to anyway, as you miraculously recovered organ by organ. Many of the doctors regard you as a medical miracle.

It’s been a long and painful road. But through much reflection and prayer, I’ve come to realise that it wasn’t me who was specially chosen, it was you. It is no coincidence that we share the same birthday, for you are God’s gift to me. You have led us as a family closer to Christ and you have blessed so many people with your miraculous healing. Most of all, you have fought every step of the way. All your therapists are amused at your antics and can sense your strong character. Your story has touched the lives of so many even overseas.

This is a trial for you which you will overcome. It is written in the Bible that we should consider it pure joy when we face trials, because the testing of our faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Ava, you lack nothing. For you are surrounded by immense love. You have an army of prayer warriors crying out to God for your full recovery, you have an extended family who loves you, you have helpers who love you as they love their own children and therapists who have made it their personal mission to make you completely well.

You are special with a unique story to tell. Until you can tell it on your own, I will tell your story for you. All the time, in whatever way we can, we will strive to bless others. Don’t give up, Ava, keep fighting every day. Whenever you feel like giving up, remember that your mama never will. Never.

I love you. Happy birthday sweetheart!

Mama

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Yesterday when I wrote the post about our friend who has suffered a similar fate to Ava, Bianca wrote me a quick note. “Don’t forget that Ava was resuscitated after more than 40 minutes. She has defied all medical logic. She just began vocalizing today. Not real words but at least we heard her voice. We are praying for your friend and his family.”

Wow…

God, we thank you for being a perfect Father. Even when we are faced with imperfect circumstances, we know that the testing of our faith produces perseverance, which makes us mature and complete. All things work for the good of those who love you… and we sure as heck love you… In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Faith Is Spelled "R-I-S-K"

Ecclesiastes 11:4 “He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.” Some years back during a fast, I felt God tell me to go to the airport and start praying for people. I had seen it modeled by folks like Todd White and Robbie Dawkins, but I’m really not the type to strike up conversations with strangers so this felt really uncomfortable for me. With each encounter, I felt some words of doubt pop into my head. Thoughts from “He looks Malay so probably a Muslim and might get offended” to “she’s kind of attractive and might think I’m trying to hit on her” rolled through my head to counter the call at each turn. I forget the exact stats, but I think I asked 21 people if I could pray for them that morning, and only 4 declined. Most of them seemed encouraged and last week after seeing me on TV and being reminded of our encounter one of them reached out to say thanks again. Often we make the most impact when we get out of our comfort zone and take spiritual risk, because that demonstrates our faith. In fact, I’ve heard several pastors say that the way you spell “Faith” is “R-I-S-K”. Well for the last few nights, our friends Calvin and Alarice at Awaken Generation have been holding online prayer and worship sessions for our friend who is in a coma. The presence of God has been so thick as over 100 people gather to cry out for a miracle and to worship the Lord despite difficult circumstances. I was putting the kids to bed in the middle of the meeting, but later Elaine told me that Calvin had asked her to pray in the midst of the meeting, and she felt God put it on her heart to share the story of Lazarus. “I feel like it was a real turning point somehow. Since the accident I just couldn’t understand why God would allow this suffering. It makes no sense. But earlier I felt He led me to this story, where Jesus ‘allowed’ Lazarus and his family to suffer for longer to bring more glory to the Father. That’s totally something that would make sense of this whole situation.” I told her that I was proud of her for sharing that so publicly despite our friend’s medical situation looking so dire. That to me feels like spiritual risk, because one might think “well what if it doesn’t end up well? I’ll look dumb, and I could have raised the hopes of his family only to set them up for more disappointment.” Of course, we’re not to take dumb risk when God doesn’t call us to it. Jesus didn’t jump off the temple roof when Satan tempted. But I believe that when God calls, he’s very proud of us for taking spiritual risk. Lord thank you for giving us opportunities to expand. We would never ask for such difficult situations for anyone we love, but what the enemy intends for evil, we know you always use it for good. Help us to take more spiritual risk, to think bigger and to have faith for miracles today. We love you. In your son’s name, Amen.