amongst brothers and sisters in the faith. This was the case at last night's cell meeting where the people were hungry to meet with God. It is not our spirituality, but our eagerness to know what God wants to do! It was the third week of "Give Me 40 days" which our church had embarked on, as we entered into this season of Prayer, culminating on Merdeka Day.God is doing many wonderful things in our midst, as was shared in our testimonies after a time of worship. We were told to meet one new person so that it could be included into our prayer list. What is unique about this 40 days prayer is you don't prayer for yourself, your loved ones or your needs but for others and their needs. So this "prayer project" was bring in new individuals into our OIKOS list!
We were looking at the passage on "Do Not Worry" from the Gospel of Matthew. There is so much we can glean from it. Although I have done this passage many time before, tonight I felt differently as the Word was expounded. Chapter 6 verse 32 and 33 is a good place to review what Father God is able to do. The Word says, "For the pagans run after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well."
We went back to this period in history to understand their living standard and compared it to the very simple life of an Orang Asli to give it some form of "reality check". The need for eating, drinking and clothing. In the deep interior of the jungle or in marginalized community you will see people scrounging for the bare necessities. Their livelihood is found in the place where they are from, hundreds of miles (possibly) away from modern civilization. The eat and drink and find shelter from the surroundings.
Our personal "experiences" can give us a level of perspective to what they are going through. I related the incident in our Grief Support Group which was started by a widow and widower who married each other after losing their spouses through illness and accident. They were the right individuals to speak to people who are going through grief. Although I desired to get this started, I have very little personal experience to "feel" for them. It is the same, when we are "rich" and don't understand the plight of the very, very poor. The feeling when we are lost in the jungle without any provision, may help us begin to understand it but it is not complete until we live with them for years. For us, we will always have our comfort to return to but for them that is all they have!
In the discussion of the application of these verses, I spoke about having a slice of bread and water for a day, to even start to feel the Orang Asli's plight and scarcity, as an option. Usually our one meal with friends, can amount to the cost of their one month's provision. We concluded by praying for Father God to enlarge our hearts to love the lost, the least and the last, amongst other items.
What are we seeking first???
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