Leaking Tires

There is a saying in Cantonese (a major dialect in southern China) that describes the kind of people who are not reliable of their promises as "leaking tires". The problem of leaking tires are usually worse than flat tires. Flat tires are bad and you know it. Leaking tires look good but gave up on you just when you put your hope in them. So, leaking tires are both bad and deceptive.

We see many "leaking tires" around us and we have had our shares of bad experiences. Therefore, when things become disappointing, Christians are often tempted to think that maybe God is some kind of leaking tires, too. Maybe he just sounds good and looks good but he is not really reliable and not really trustworthy.

Many have traveled this path of testing faith, of endurance, of perseverance. And my friend, you are not the first, and you are not alone. Lift up your eyes and look around, there is a great cloud of witnesses testifying His faithfulness. Why not let your sounds of mourning and agony add to the symphony of faith under fire?

1 How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.

6 I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me. (Psalm 13)

You In the Crowd

I often like to get a window seat when I take a flight so I may enjoy looking out the window. When the airplane takes off, everything on the ground gets smaller and smaller. Very soon, even a large crowd, a jammed traffic on the road, residential areas and tall commercial building... all start to diminish and I can no longer recognize them or distinguish them.

I think about how God would look down on the earth from above, how tiny the people! 6.45 billion of them, scattering around all over the earth, on the continents or the islands, in the mountains or on the plains. Does he have a good vision to see my face and recognize me in the crowd?

The Lord is good, a Strength and Stronghold in the day of trouble; He knows, He recognizes, He understands those who take refuge and trust in Him. (Amplified Bible, Nahum 1:7)

What a beautiful Word of God! For all who put their trust in the Lord, the Lord will recognize them in the crowd. I am not just another face, but I bear the mark of Christ and He recognizes me!