Staying Rested (in spite of 17-hour days)

Sunday, 20th April 2008

Never since my external audit days have I put in 17-hour days... until this week.

Although my bosses had allowed me to take leave of absence from work, my wife told me she would prefer that I concentrate on my new job while she take leave to look after our son full-time.

Hence, each day begins at 6am. After washing up and having breakfast, I will drive to the hospital to check on my son's progress. [He was transferred out of ICU last Sunday and is now recuperating in an isolation room in a normal ward, and is expected to be discharged by 2nd May]. After spending about an hour with him, I drive to St John's Headquarters to park the car, and then take 1 of 3 buses (10, 70 or 196) into the CBD.

I am thankful to the Lord that work starts only at 9.3oam, and ends at 6pm. In the evenings, the reverse of the morning's commuting takes place. I take a bus back to where the car is parked, and then drive to the hospital to spend another 2 hours or so there. About 9.30pm, I leave the hospital to make my way back home. After a bath and checking on my emails and stuff, it is about 11pm when my head finally hits the pillow.

In the natural, I would have gotten worn out by now. But praise be to God that somehow He has sustained me throughout the week.

Last Saturday, I received an SMS from Ps Reuben telling me to stay rested in the Lord, and that word of advice has indeed come in very handy. In his sermon last Sunday entitled "Working in Ministry with the God the Father", he expounded on Matt 11:30 where Jesus said that His yoke was easy and His burden was light.

The Greek word used for "easy" is chrestos χρηστός (G5543), which in other parts of Scripture is translated as kind or good. In this passage, it was translated as "easy" because saying His yoke is "kind" or "good" sounds strange. But that does not change the fact that His yoke IS kind and good because it is not a yoke or burden at all, since He is the one who gives us the strength and can even be considered to be the one carrying it on our behalf!

In the New Covenant, there is only one thing that we have to labour or put effort in, and that is to enter the Lord's rest (Heb 4:11). This is because the devil wants to distract us with the cares of the world. As we fix our eyes upon Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith, the winds and the waves that the devil tries to stir up around us will be of no relevance and consequence.

So, despite the 17-hour days, I can say hand on heart that it has been a most blessed week, where I see the Lord's hand of providence and sustenance upon me. He has also given me favour with my new colleagues. When they found out about Mark, they actually sent a hamper to the ward, wishing him a speedy recovery.

The Lord has also given me opportunity to share my faith. One of my colleagues asked me whether I was worried and anxious about my son, to which I replied that somehow I felt peace and believed that things will work out. The next thing she said was, "Are you a Christian?" to which I said "Yes, I am.", and she then commented that somehow Christians behaved differently in the midst of trials. All praise to Jesus!

One person left a comment on my blog that in this season of my life, God wants me to share the grace message with those in the "rat race". I am already feeling that conviction, so please pray that God will grant me the boldness to leave sermon CDs of Ps Prince and Ps Reuben in the office, so that others will be prompted to borrow them and be likewise transformed.

I want to also thank those of who has taken the effort to visit my son during his hospitalisation. You can see that he is recovering extremely well and in very good spirits, and I am thankful to the LORD for His hand of protection upon him (and my wife) during this time of recuperation.