“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me.” – John 6:38
My wife Namiko and I have an agreement to regularly take time out to reflect and take stock about our life with God at the helm. Every month (or more often, if we feel we are in a major life transition) we spend half a day or a whole day together to process what is going on in God’s presence. Sometimes we meet our mentors or spiritual guides and ask them to journey with us on a particular issue, leaning on their counsel and prayer support. We find that this practice has benefited us greatly in helping us to see what God might be doing, where He might be leading us and where to focus our time, resources and energy.
Any organisation or community with a mission also needs to keep sight of its reason for being. As you know, in 2009 Yio Chu Kang Chapel embarked on a journey to “return to our roots” as an intentional disciplemaking church.
Having got a clear vision of the desired outcome in this journey, we have recently grasped the key principles of intentionality, authenticity and being missional. These main thrusts help to steer us in a constant direction through the busyness of our weekly or monthly routines of meetings and ministry.
Our intentionality as disciples of Jesus and as disciplemakers for Jesus has everything to do with God’s will — that is to say, His own intentions for us, family, church and the whole world. In John 4:34, Jesus even stated that His “food” was to do God’s will and to accomplish God’s work. This pronouncement clearly expressed Jesus’ life of intentional service to God. Knowing God and doing His will nourished and sustained Jesus during His three decades or so of earthly life, and was foundational to how He accomplished His mission.
Friends, as we journey through life and try to fulfil our various responsibilities, may we learn to do “everything unto the Lord”. In His eyes, the what and how of our actions are less important than a submitted heart. The work of our hands, the conversations that we have, the deliberations of our hearts, these are all sanctified and made fruitful by our desire to please Him. We each can and should bring such intentionality to our faith community and resonate together in knowing God and doing His will. This will give God great pleasure, and unlock His blessing and destiny for us.
By Aaron Lee, Elder (YCKC Bulletin 18&19 April 2015)