Archive for April 2003
Don’t blink!
Many things happen in a blink…
© Angel’s original . Written April 2003
Published in The Frankelite, Editor’s column . April-June 2003
Several years ago, I was on a conducted tour around the quiet countryside of Ireland when our humorous tour driver said, “Don’t blink, everyone. We are going to pass through the smallest town in Ireland. If you blink, you will miss seeing it.” Sure enough, we zipped through the little town in a blink. I do not even remember its name.
Many things happen in a blink.
In a blink, we witnessed the total destruction of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. In a blink, the 24-year regime of Saddam Hussein was removed when superpower USA launched “Operation Iraqi Freedom”. In a blink, the world was hit with the mysterious Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), causing panic, paranoia and even paralysis.
In a blink, Singapore which prides itself on its First World status, saw PSA Corporation, Housing Development Board and Singapore Airlines go through “restructuring” (= “retrenchment”). In an instant, the rich are made poor when businesses collapse while surgical mask manufacturers are made rich because of the sudden demand.
In a blink, I saw the closure of my sister Cynthia’s short 37 years on earth.
How then should we live in a time when a blink could bring about cataclysmic changes in our lives?
In Psalm 103:7, David said that God “made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel.” Both the Israelites and Moses witnessed the same events, but only Moses had insight into God’s ways.
In a race, blinkers or hoods fitted to the horse’s head force the horse to look straight ahead instead of being distracted by surrounding horses. Jockeys will tell you that a little blinker can make a great difference to the racehorse’s performance.
Moses who wrote Psalm 90, had blinkers that kept his eyes and heart fixed on God. The Israelites on the other hand, had a different kind of blinkers that blinded them from understanding God’s heart.
If we are to thrive in such a time as this, we need to shield our eyes and heart with blinkers that will keep our focus on the Lord Jesus instead of on the many things that stir up our innate fears. We also need to ask God to remove whatever blinds us from understanding and responding to His ways.
In the midst of uncertainty, one more certain event will happen in a blink that will not only change our lives but also change us forever. The apostle Paul said, “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (I Corinthians 15:51-52).
In a blink, all wrong will be set right. God will complete what He began at the Cross and permanently remove suffering and death. In a blink, Satan, God’s enemy, will be no more. In a blink, Christ, the Hope of our glory will be revealed, and we, His people, will be resurrected and transformed.
In a blink, I will be reunited with Cynthia .
It is in the light of this hope that the apostle urges us, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
There are many around us living between blinks and in much fear. There is still work to be done and a race to complete. Do you have blinkers that keep you from knowing and responding to God’s heart? How are you living between blinks?
