On Thursday some of us went to visit Oom Kiat Ong to celebrate his 96th birthday. He’s weaker compared to the last time we saw him some weeks ago but remained alert. When asked what he wished to say on his birthday, he said, “I cannot tell you how grateful I am to God for all He has done in my life. His grace is simply amazing.” It’s exactly what he always says whenever we ask how he is doing.
Oom Kiat is still here on earth, but his eyes are fixed toward heaven where Tante Gwie is. That is where he wishes to be: Home.
Oom Kiat is an iron man, not because he has run, swum, and biked for miles but because he has been forged by life’s hardship so many times and for so long. But each blow that life gave him only made him stronger and closer to God. That’s the reason he always gives thanks to God and is always eager to tell others what a mighty and loving God he places his trust in. God has never disappointed him.
Some of us have had a tough life but some, smooth life. Some are still experiencing hardship and uncertainties while some have had their questions answered. Wherever we are on this journey, we can say with peace in our hearts that we are not alone. Situations may change but who we are as children of God will always be the same.
In his book, Run with The Horses, Eugene H. Peterson shares this insight to Israel’s captivity, “They settled down to find out what it meant to be God’s people in the place where they did not want to be—Babylon . . . . They did not lose their identity; they discovered it. They learned how to pray in deeper and more life-changing ways than ever.” Perhaps we are in a place where we do not want to be—our Babylon—but we need not lose our identities. We can discover it—that we are Christ’s beloved children. Here in Babylon, we learn to live in a place where God wants us to be.
Pastor Paul