Hospital Visit

I earlier blogged about recommending a friend's uncle to see specialist doctors in Singapore and helped by being around to make the various arrangements. Uncle was due to discharge today but in the end doctor did not give him the green light. In the end, I missed going to church for leadership training but stayed on to be around for uncle.

I shall not share about the details of what had happened, but my thoughts from interaction with uncle this morning. Uncle is a Christian but I saw the weaker side of him as he was tested to trust God for his health. Being a Christian doesn't make us any less human. We too, go through our share of fears, disappointments, worries, sadness. What is different is how we deal with them and the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. Listening to uncle's sharing of his life and the work that he has done in sharing the gospel, does somewhat put me to shame, but yet also challenges me.

I wonder how my faith and trust in Jesus will be tested when I undergo physical trials. Yes I may be quite a 'fervent' Christian now, serving Him in various ministries... but when I face trials like facing a real medical condition, will I be able to trust God that He is sovereign and that He is in control of my life? My life has been redeemed by Christ. Jesus has died on the Cross to save me. My life is already His and for His glory, what do I have to claim that its mine? Yet I know that its still difficult because I still have to decide how I should be living my life - be my own King and satisfy myself, or surrender to Christ and use my life for His Kingdom? To quote uncle, he said in Mandarin that our lives are temporal. God gave us our lives and had graciously saved us. We are finite but by His strength and grace, we should do use our lives to God's work while we can and to glorify Him. Wealth and status are all really not so important as they are fleeting (I thought of the book of Ecclesiates). I had a passing thought: should I put aside everything and do full-time Christian work??

Uncle did so much for God in his days of youth and even now in his elderly days. (If he were 40 years younger, I'll probably be attracted to his godliness!!) Uncle's recounting of how he prayed for his loved ones to know Christ and the faith he had in God then, puts me to shame because I don't think I have half of that fervour and the heart of prayer! He was indeed a faithful man of God. Have I been doing enough to share the gospel with my colleagues and family? Have I even prayed earnestly for their salvation?

I know uncle won't be reading this entry. Even though he thinks that I had been very nice to be helping him in the past week and I too had tried to be around for him and to at least give him a nice and reassuring smile that things are okay.... but really uncle has also ministered to me and encouraged me with the sharing of his life. I had never thought that I would have so much reflections and thoughts from my simple gesture of helping someone to recommend a doctor. Incidentally, uncle and I share the same birthday but we are 46 years apart! I pray that I too, when I grow old with my wrinkles, my children and grandchildren would come to know Christ and be encouraged and challenged by my life testimony to hang on in our walk in Christ...