25

APR

Contentment or Containment?

posted on Saturday, 2009

Things have not gone on swimmingly at work in March.

Did you get the sack? No…
Did you suffer a pay cut? No, no…
Did you get sabo-ed by colleagues? No, no, no…

Justifiably or not, the following developments got me down in the pits …

I was told… wage freeze…
I had to move… twice… away from my favourite desk and colleague…
I had to give up a very favourable work schedule …

With each new development, I felt like I was descending further and further into a bottomless valley…

Pastor Geoff preached a timely message about the attitudes of gratitude and Allan reminded me of this during one of my long sighs.

Yeah, I know… I will not let this bother me, I must be grateful I still have a fantastic job in this bad economy.

And I caught the cynicism and unhappiness in my tone. This is not true contentment. This is containment! Suppressing my emotions; faking contentment; trying not to think too much; pretending not to care or be hurt… It will not lead to effervescent rejoicing, but may result in involuntary volatile combustion.

C3C… taking the 3 steps from Containment to Contentment

Conversation – Talk to God about our situation.

Yes He knows, but take time to tell Him what has happened and how we truly feel about the circumstances and not keep it bottled within us.

Commitment – Surrender the problem to God and surrender our independence to Him.

Character-building – Take something out of this experience and use it to build the foundation for the next.

Numerous C’s have the opposite effect: Complain, Compare, Covet, Compete, Control, Contend, Compromise, Criticise… In the valley when I could no longer contain and compress my mounting bitterness and dissatisfaction, I embarked on a downward spiral of negative C’s.

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,

I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.

Habakkuk 3:17 to 19

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honour;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.

Psalm 84:10 to 11

19

APR

Joined

posted on Sunday, 2009

12

APR

Easter Egg-Citing Egg-ploration

posted on Sunday, 2009

Would you believe that the weekly delivery of brochures is a major thing for us?

We so look forward to receiving supermarket and other retail brochures at the start of each week. Sometimes, I even contemplated "pinching" the stack of brochures sticking out of my neighbours' mailboxes when the delivery person missed ours! *humble confession*

Anyway, the past two weeks brought even more excitement as shops actively "evangelised" about Easter. I spent at least 30 minutes going through all the catalogues... especially studying the different types of Easter eggs available…

I have been a Christian for the most part of my life, and have received the Word about the true meaning of Good Friday and Easter at Evangel. The illustrated sermons by Pastor Lim–tracing the steps of Jesus from the Garden of Gethsemane to the Cross–have especially left an indelible mark on me.

But here I was, very much into the whole chocolate Easter egg pop culture...

Easter is a major event in the Australian calendar and people definitely look forward to the long weekend. This extends from Good Friday to the Monday after Easter Sunday. I have the Tuesday off as well due to the extended break of the university. Some people would take the opportunity to drive/fly somewhere for a holiday; some booze themselves silly throughout; and some attend church as one of only two services they would attend per year, the other being Christmas.

The egg may have originally been used to symbolise new life, but this symbol has somehow developed into a commercialised icon.

May we once again explore, experience and embrace the ultimate sacrifice on Good Friday and the glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday…

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live,

even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?"

John 11:25 to 26 (NIV)

The sacred writings contain preliminary reports by the prophets on God's Son.

His descent from David roots him in history; his unique identity as Son of God was

shown by the Spirit when Jesus was raised from the dead, setting him apart as the Messiah,

our Master. Through him we received both the generous gift of his life and

the urgent task of passing it on to others who receive it by entering into

obedient trust in Jesus. You are who you are through this gift and call of Jesus Christ!

And I greet you now with all the generosity of God our Father and

our Master Jesus, the Messiah.

Romans 1:2 to 7 (The Message Bible)

And no… this is not a commercial brochure… but a letterbox invitation that can potentially hatch into a life-changing eggs-perience for the recipients…

Eggs-plore for yourself the real meaning of Easter…