Types of affliction

It's Feb 2016 and the theme that seems to be coming to me during the morning watches while praying with others and alone with God seems to be on 'affliction' or being 'afflicted'. I believe that God is showing me from His Word that such an experience is not unusual but rather something that is commonly experienced and runs through the Bible.

Perhaps it is because I have a few close friends who were badly afflicted this year that I felt led to pray for them - one lost a baby just conceived, one is suffering 'slavery' at work and another has family members suffering sickness and financial problems. 

As for myself, the kind of work expectations from the boss seems to have stepped up this year so much so that at times, I feel that I cannot endure it anymore. The thought of throwing in the resignation letter came to me many times this year but I had to grit my teeth and keep on working until a suitable time for me to give my 'love' letter to the boss as there are unfinished work for me to do before I leave.

'Affliction' in Hebrew has several meanings - distress, grief, sorrow, oppression, anguish and adversity.

'Affliction' in Greek carries about 3 meanings - hardship, maltreatment and persecution.

There are about 5 different kinds of incidents in the Bible that can amount to 'afflictions'. They are:

1. Hard and rigorous labor

Jacob described the 'affliction' of hard work and manual labor that he suffered at the hands of his employer, his father in law:

Gen 31:42
"Unless the God of my Father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac had been with me, surely you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night"

Hard work that takes up your weekends, your sleeping hours, enduring all kinds of unkind treatment by the bosses - this is a kind of affliction.

The children of Israel suffered hard labor at the hands of their Egyptian masters:

Deut 26:7
"Then we cried out to the Lord God of our Father and the Lord heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and oppression"

The good news is God is with us in our affliction and the days of our affliction will surely come to an end especially when we start calling out to God for help and deliverance. Afflictions seem to be only for a season and for a purpose and they will soon be over. Our response is to ENDURE IT.

The children of Israel after enduring wicked rulers and taskmasters were delivered from Egypt with great riches and Jacob also did not leave Laban empty-handed.

2. Humiliation, defamation and slander

Hannah described her affliction of being scorned, degraded and humiliated by her husband's first wife:

1 Sam 1:11
"The she made a vow and said, "O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me...."

David himself suffered defamation and slander at the cursing of his enemy, Shimei:

2 Sam 26:12
"It may be that the Lord will look upon my affliction; and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing this day"

Again we saw how the Lord answered those who called upon Him in the day of their affliction. Hannah conceived a child and David got the better of his enemy when he came back victorious from the battle with Saul.

3. Persecution

Paul endured great persecution in preaching the Gospel as is recorded in 2 Timothy 3:11 "persecutions, afflictions what happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra - what persecutions I endured. And out of all of them all the Lord delivered me"

Very often the affliction will come as a result of us doing God's will. It is to be expected when we are standing up for Christ. See what happened to Micaiah the prophet:

1 Kings 22:27
"and say, 'Thus says the king: "put his fellow in prison, and feed him with the bread of affliction and water of affliction, until I come in peace"

Micaiah prophesied differently from the other false prophets and it angered the king who afflicted him with imprisonment.

4. National disasters

Natural disasters like plagues, famines and earthquakes are also afflictions upon a group of people or groups of nations.

2 Chron 20:9
"If disaster comes upon us - sword, judgment, pestilence or famine - we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple) and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save"

Is Malaysia afflicted? Yes, indeed. With corruption, political machineering, dengue, drought, haze - the list keeps on increasing. Yet there is hope for us. The church has to cry out to God for help! Such afflictions should serve to bring us closer to God and to make us cry out to Him more fervently and with all our hearts.

5. Near-death experience

Jonah suffered affliction when he walked out of the will of God. He was almost near the door of death. He suffered almost dying moments in the belly of the whale before he cried out to God for help:

Jonah 2:2
"And he said; "I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me. "Out of the belly of Sheol I cried and You heard my voice"

However affliction can come upon us even when we are doing the will of God like what happened to Paul who willingly suffered persecution in Jerusalem.

6. Sicknesses

Sicknesses is a kind of physical affliction. 

Mark 3:10
"For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him"

Mark 5:29
"Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction"

I do not know why sicknesses afflict some people and does not touch others. I do not know why God still has not chosen to heal my knee affliction and my tendonitis. All I know is that I need to continue to abound in thanksgiving no matter what kind of physical condition I am suffering from. God is merciful and kind. I believe that God has a higher purpose from my affliction.

Isa 48:10 says that afflictions are for testing and refinement of our character "Behold I have refined you, but not as silver, I have tested you in the furnace of affliction"

Apart from the testings of character, there is also the higher purpose of God working out His plan and purpose through us in our affliction in order to demonstrate to others His grace and His mercy. For e.g. Esther saved an entire nation, Daniel reached out to his bosses and became a strong testimony and Joseph was afflicted by his brothers and in prison so that he could save nations!

Thus affliction is biblical. If it can happen to great men and women in the Bible it can also happen to us thus we are not exempted!

CONQUER THE DAY BEFORE IT CONQUERS YOU

Take out the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God and declare promises aloud for yourself so that your soul can hear, the enemy can hear and you can tread down all works of darkness in your life before the start of the day, week or month.

Downloaded from the Lord on Feb 1 2016 - first day of the month on the first day of the first week of the month. To be declared loudly before starting the working day:

I declare that I am the head and not the tail.
I declare that I am the above and not the beneath.
I declare that I am a triumphant and not defeated.
I declare that I shall be victorious over every challenge, testing and trial that may come upon me during this week.

I declare that in this world I may have tribulation but IN CHRIST I have overcome the world.

I declare that I can do all things, all assignments, all projects (no matter how tough they are) and all the work given to me by my bosses through Christ who gives me the strength and wisdom to do them.

I declare that I walk in favor with God and with man everyday of this week. 
I declare that I have the wisdom of God to solve every problem, to deal with difficult bosses and staff. 
I declare that I have the wisdom of God that pertains to my work, my relationships, my tasks, my assignments, my future, every major decision that I have to make and to carry out every ministry strategies laid upon my heart.

I declare that I am full of grace and truth.
I declare that I am full of the Spirit of God, having the Spirit without measure residing in me.

I declare that the love of God motivates me to serve Him in my workplace. 
I declare that I have the heart of a harvester. 
I declare that I have the boldness and courage to witness to my colleagues, my friends and family members for the LORD JESUS CHRIST.

I declare and speak great fruitfulness into my life this year. 
I declare that I am a consistent fruit bearing disciple of the LORD JESUS CHRIST.
I declare that I have the fruit of the Spirit, I bear the fruit of souls.

I declare that my mind belongs to the LORD JESUS CHRIST.
All of this week, I want to declare, decree and affirm that my mind will choose to intentionally meditate on the things that are true, things that are noble, things that are just, things that are pure, things that are lovely, things that are of a good report, things that are of virtue, things that are praiseworthy.

THIS IS MY DECLARATION. I DECLARE ALL THIS IN JESUS MIGHTY NAME. AMEN.

Shining in affliction

I was praying for a sister who was admitted to ICU due to a severe dengue attack. She was hovering on the brink of death and we prayed fervently for her to recover. At times at the morning watches we must have spent up to an hour just interceding and pleading with God for her life.

Yesterday the Lord dropped the whole of Psalm 139 into my heart and I declared it aloud in prayer for her. 2 verses in particular stood out:

Psalm 139:11-12

 "If I say surely the darkness shall fall on me," Even the night shall be light about me. Indeed the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and light are both alike to you"

How can this be? How can night become like day?Suddenly I realized that when God is with us even in the darkness of our days or the tragedies that we are going through, night is shining as bright as day!

One person in the Bible experienced 'night' in his life for many years. The person is Jacob but there was light shining in the darkness of his days.

The story of Jacob is fascinating and so applicable to me in real life.

Jacob worked for his father-in-law Laban for 20 years but he called it his years of "affliction".

Genesis 31:42 

"Unless the God of my Father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night"

What was the "affliction" that Jacob suffered from?

He was "afflicted" by Laban, his father-in-law who was also his employer. I wonder how many of us have been taken advantage off when we worked for our relative or for that matter any employer? Well, Jacob certainly was!

He shares his experience which are so applicable to those of us who work in the marketplace:

1. Salary that do not commensurate with the work done by us.

"You have changed my wages ten times" - Gen 31:41. 

Jacob was promised Rachel for the first seven years but was given Leah (wages changed). After the second tranche of another seven years, Rachel was finally given to him in marriage by Laban.

In the modern day context it can mean a number of things - pay reduction, payment in cash rather than kind, refusing to pay bonus, EPF or increment although required by law. 

2. Honesty and integrity which is not given due recognition.

"These 20 years I have been with you, your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young and I have not eaten the rams of your flock" - Gen 31:38. 

In the modern employment scenario, it may mean that we have not caused any losses to the business of our company through the neglect of our duties. It also means that we have not committed CBT or stolen money, goods or possession from our employer.

3. Being asked to pay for company losses through no fault of our own.

"That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it. You required it from my hand whether stolen by day or stolen by night" - Gen 31:39.

Cash shortage in the counter and you have been asked to pay up. Your staff made a mistake at work and financial losses ensued as result but your employer asked you to pay for the error made by them!

4. Working hard till late at night/early hours of the day and even working on public holidays. Working in the most uncomfortable of environment - heat and cold alternating.

"There I was! In the day the drought consumed me and the frost by night and my sleep departed from my eyes" - Gen 31:40

Some of us work really hard. Official knock-off hours can be 6 pm but you only leave at 9 or 10 pm at night. You also bring back work home on weekends to do.

Yet Jacob continued to shine in the midst of affliction. This was acknowledged by Laban that God had blessed him for Jacob's sake!

There was another person in the Bible who shone in the midst of affliction and that person was Joseph.

When he was afflicted in Potiphar's household through false accusation and lies, he shone his integrity and moral uprightness by going to prison for something he did not do. He was afflicted with lies and false accusations.

When he was afflicted in the prison, he busied himself by interpreting the dreams of the baker and the butler who came to him for help. In his affliction, he kept himself busy serving God by helping the prison guards who entrusted him with the care of other prisoners.

When he was in Egypt separated from his father in Canaan, he did not allow the bitterness caused by his brothers affliction of injustice and loneliness to overwhelm him but he used his time in exile to serve Pharoah by advising Pharoah what to do to deal with the years of plenty followed by the years of famine. 

How do we know this? We know this when Joseph cried out aloud upon seeing his brothers bowing down before him to buy grain in Egypt! Joseph was not interested in revenge. He just wanted reconciliation. Affliction has changed him for the better and made him a gracious and forgiving person.

Joseph named his son Ephraim to signify fruitfulness in affliction:

Gen 41:52

"And the name of the second he called Ephraim: 'For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction"

Joseph shone with FRUITFULNESS in the land of his affliction!

Is it possible to shine in affliction? 

Yes certainly. It is my prayer that in the affliction of:

- injustice of the management
- verbal abuse of the bosses
- mean words of our colleagues
- politics/back-stabbing in the workplace
- false and unfair accusations

I will continue to SHINE FOR JESUS no matter what!

What are the practical things we need to do while undergoing affliction:

1. Continue to do what is right
2. Wait upon God to right every wrong done to you
3. Pray blessing upon all those who have afflicted us
4. Ask God to deliver us from the affliction

SHINING FOR JESUS IN 2016 IN OUR WORKPLACE

How can we SHINE FOR JESUS?

Our church theme this year is "Sharpen, Strengthen to Shine."

I really like this theme because it is manageable, simple and practical. Last year's theme was "Discipling the Community" which to me was rather broad and generic. I must admit that I find it hard to actualize it in my work-place or in my ministry.

However I can easily identify with the 2016 theme because it is a practical overflow of my relationship with God in the marketplace and in my family! In a sense this is a theme which I can personalize and own it for myself.

What are we shining?

1. Shining with the LIGHT OF LIFE.

We shine with the LIGHT OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST which is the LIGHT OF LIFE in us. We will only be able to do so when we follow the Lord closely.

John 8:12 "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life"

2. Shining with the GLORY OF GOD in us.

Isa 60:1

"Arise and shine for your light has come. The glory of the Lord is risen upon you"

2 Cor 4:6

"For it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ"

Philippians 2:14-15

"Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world"

Nature of light

When you step into a room full of light, you know that you are in the presence of light. There is no announcement or loud speakers announcing "Light is here. Listen to me!" 

You just know that you are in the presence of light because you see it, you feel it and you are surrounded by it. It does not speak but it is felt by experience.

This story of Laban and Jacob really intrigued me. It fascinates me that after serving Laban for 14 years (7 for Leah and 7 for Rachel) that Laban said something profound in Genesis 30:27-28 when Jacob announced to his father in law that he wanted to 'balik kampung' to "my own place and to my own country."

Laban responded in this manner in Genesis 30:27-28 "And Laban said to him, "Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake." Then he said, "Name me your wages, and I will give it."

Wow! When I read this it dawned upon me that after working the past 14 years with Laban, Jacob had actually made the presence of God felt in Laban's life. Now it was not just about working for Leah or Rachel but was also about making God's presence felt in Laban's life!

Laban openly declared that he experienced God's light through Jacob's life. 

Jacob shared that this very clearly in Gen 30:29 "So Jacob said to him, "You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me."

He did not lose any of Laban's livestock all the 14 years while working for Laban. Over and above that Jacob told Laban that he prospered him in Gen 30:30 "For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the Lord has blessed you since my coming..."

Think about this! Powerful! Christians bring wealth to the company they are working with!

How would you like it if your boss were to say to you on the day you gave your application for VSS/resignation/retirement letter the same thing that Laban spoke to Jacob "O please please stay. I have learned by experience that my blessings is from God. I have learned by experience that I have been blessed by God for your sake!"

How would like it if your boss were also to say to you "Name me any amount of salary you want and I will give it to you!"

Whether or not Jacob shared about his relationship with God to Laban or not I am not so sure (although I think he had the opportunity to do so as 14 years is a long long time) but it was clear from the scriptures that Laban said that he saw the light of God in Jacob's life "by experience".

Sometimes it is not about speaking about God (although it is essential) but in the presence of a contentious, argumentative and 'religious' people (sharing is sometimes not appropriate) we need a powerful way to shine.

The powerful way to shine is to allow God's blessings to flow in and through our life anchored in our relationship with God so that others can experience and taste of the blessings of God because of your walk with God.

The powerful way to shine is just by being like Jesus to others. The powerful way to shine in our workplace is to allow God to work His deliverance and answered prayers through our difficult assignments. When God answers our prayers for success in our difficult assignments, it is so easy for us to testify to our colleagues and bosses that we have been praying over the situation and God has answered our prayers!

I know that God has been at work in my office since 10 years of my joining the company as a result of a merger. When I first joined, I realized that the amount of litigation suits against my company was staggering. With 70 cases the total value of claims amounted to over RM600 million or more!

Over the course of the past 10 years, I have prayed through and ask God for help to resolve the cases against us especially the most critical ones (ICU cases). God has graciously helped us resolve over 50 cases and today my scorecard stands at 16 cases out of the initial 70! The total value of claims have reduced by more than 70% to RM60 million from RM600 million.

The testimony and experience of God's faithfulness and answered prayers can be felt when my lawyers called to share with me (even non-Christian lawyers) that God has answered your prayers and the decision of the case is in your favour! Often the whole office could hear my whooping cry of joy when a major case gets resolved in my company's favour! I will also give thanks to God loudly and shout "God is great!"

Now don't get me wrong and think that I fight only to win each time. I am not an unfair lawyer. I believe in settling cases in respect of which we have wronged others but where we have been wronged, I will go all out to seek for justice! 

That's why for cases where there is an injustice to others, I seek a mandate to settle with those who have been aggrieved by us. In this way I am shining with God's light to show favor to the downtrodden and oppressed.

How do we shine?

1. Shining by BEING
2. Shining by DOING
3. Shining by PRAYING
4. Shining by SHARING

1. Shining by BEING

Goodness is a fruit of the Spirit thus by showing forth the fruit of goodness in our lives towards others we are shining by BEING LIKE JESUS.

When we show forth God's goodness in our treatment of people by not shouting at them, not blaming them for our mistakes, not making others our scapegoat, not being mean to our colleagues - we are shining by being like JESUS which gives glory to God.

Others in our workplace can see the difference between our godly management and the ungodly management by the way we treat our staff. 

Whilst others criticise and scold harshly without giving any guidance, Christian bosses in the LORD give those who are weak in their work performance guidance and counseling so that they can improve their KPI year on year. Christian bosses who show genuine care for their staff is indeed doing a good work for the Lord!

2. Shining by DOING GOOD WORKS

Matt 5:16

"Let your light so shine before man, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven"

We visited a brother recently who cracked his ankle bone riding the hovercraft. We prayed for him for his speedy recovery. This is also good works - visiting the sick and praying for them.

Christians visited my mother to celebrate Christmas in the nursing home she was in. This is also good works!

Those in the ministry to the poor and needy, widows and orphans, homeless and afflicted is truly shining for Jesus.

Sunbeams, Shelter Home, Charis Hope, Welfare Ministry, food-feeding program, prison ministry, ministry to those afflicted with HIV, Faith Welfare Society, Malaysian Care ministry - these are only some examples of good works that are shining brightly for the Lord Jesus.

Recently the tea-lady sought out my help in the office to do a statutory declaration. She was only a blue-collar worker and could not afford to pay money to lawyers to do this document for her. She has become more open to my invitation to church after this incident. By doing this document for her I have helped her save quite a bit of money including the allowance that the management would have withdrawn from her if the declaration had not been done.

3. Shining by PRAYING FOR OTHERS

When we pray for others and God answers our prayers for them, their faith is strengthened. I believe that this is shining with good works. It is a display of the manifest grace and glory of God in their lives.

Sis A was praying for healing of growth in her womb. The church prayed for her and she was healed.

She also asked me to pray for God to break her husband's affair with a China lady. Soon after the affair was broken and she and her husband reconciled. Seeing the power of God in answering prayers, she then asked to pray for her to conceive. Just last Christmas she shared that she had conceived a child!

In my previous workplace, my former CEO's secretary sought my help to pray for her during a very tough predicament which could cost her the job. She knew that I often prayed during lunch time. I did not have a room and often prayed under the table at my cubicle!

God answered her prayers and she soon gave her life to Jesus. Today her whole family have turned to Christ and she has even reached out to her brother. She also continued to show forth the example of good works by praying for her brother and helping out her brother financially as he had to go through several operations for colon cancer.

4. Shining by SHARING ABOUT JESUS

I recall sharing about Jesus to my colleagues and bringing them to attend FGBMF meetings at Corus Hotel when I was working at Menara Citibank. Whenever I can I will share with them testimonies of answered prayers and give them Christian materials to read. 

One day the ex-legal advisor of the Lion Group (former holding company) got to know me and asked me to pray for challenges she was facing in her work. God intervened for her in the situation and she soon became a Christian. She also asked for prayers to deal with her mother-in-law. God gave her wisdom to overcome her feelings of hate and bitterness.

May we shine so brightly with the LIGHT OF THE GLORY OF GOD in our lives so that all those around us will EXPERIENCE GOD'S GOODNESS in and through us.

May we ever shine so brightly for Jesus by BEING, by DOING, by PRAYING and by SHARING in 2016 that the light in us will overwhelm the darkness around us!

TO GOD BE THE GLORY

Reaching out in the workplace - patience in fishing

On the first week of January 2016, I had lunch with a young lady who was one of our consultants.
I had been praying in the morning on the Core Value of our church being a witnessing church.

I asked God for grace to share Jesus with her. During lunch, I asked her whether she had heard the 4 Spiritual Laws and she said no. 

I then boldly took out the 4 Spiritual Laws and read the first page to the page where there was the sinner's prayer. I asked her if she would like to pray the prayer. To my surprise she did!

It was just a simple act of faith - no emo, no fanfare nothing. I just shared the heart of the Gospel with her that Jesus is the only mediator between God and man and that man through his efforts can never reach God.

I was so touched by the work of salvation grace brought about by the Spirit of the Lord. Truly salvation is not of our works but it is a gift of God.

God showed me this very important point about lessons from the fishermen. The fishermen fish in faith. He just sits at the riverbank and lets down his bait. He has not seen the fish yet but he patiently waits for the tug at the end of the rod.

It is also a work of patience and perseverance. He may have to wait for a certain length of time but he will continue to wait until he catches his fish. 

In the same way, I must have tested the patience of my seniors in the University when they tried to reach out to me. Time and time again in that span of my 4 year course in the University several seniors approached me to share the Gospel with me. There was a buddy system where the older Christians would befriend the first yearers to take us under their wings.

Apart from showing us around the varsity and being our friend, they also showered upon us genuine Christian love and friendship. I must have had the Gospel shared with me more than 50 times. I must have attended several churches during that period.

Finally I came to the Lord when the Spirit of the Lord revealed Jesus to me. I received the revelation in my heart during one worship meeting and heard the voice of the Lord. I heard the Spirit saying to me "Everything in the Bible is true. I died for your sins on the Cross and I resurrected from the dead."

Then I heard John 3:16 quoted to me and the love of God overflowed me from head to toe! It was like warm honey.....

I also recall how my father gave his heart to Jesus. So many times I shared with him the Gospel, so many times I prayed for him. At one time he had a heart attack and the Lord just delivered him from death when we laid hands and prayed for him. 

My father prayed the sinner's prayer at one evangelistic meeting but did not go to church for fear of my mother. The Lord also touched his knee pain and healed him.

Today my mother's heart have softened a great deal. I think I must have shared with my mum over 20 times the Gospel message over and over again. Many people also had visited her to share with her and prayed for her salvation.

One day my mother told me that she attended Sunday school! That means she would have heard the Gospel from young!

Scriptures abound on the longsuffering of God in reaching out to the lost:

2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some count slackness but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance and consider that the longsuffering of the Lord is salvation"

Romans 2:4 "Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance and longsuffering not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance"

I think longsuffering is deeper and stronger than patience as to suffer long is to endure those who mock us, reject us and say all kinds of nasty things about us. It is to keep on loving, praying and reaching out to the very ones who turned their face against us time and time again until they give their hearts to Jesus.

I was very touched during Christmas day when a brother of one of sisters came forward to receive Christ after the salvation message was preached.

I know that this sister had written her brother's name year after year to put on the prayer wall and then in the prayer bowl.

Patience and longsuffering - God we need more of this!