Taking a Step of Faith
Good morning everyone! My name is Luke and I’m 22 this year. My parents are Jolly and Leslie, and siblings are Nathanael and Olivia. I’m currently in the midst of serving my National Service with the Commando Battalion.
Like many others in Bethany, I had the privilege of being brought up here my entire life. Many Aunties and Uncles have seen me grow up and have treated me like one of their own. I grew up being taught many lessons from the Bible as made my way through the different Sunday Schools, and was seen as quiet and well-behaved. Sunday school and coming to church quickly became something that was just part of the weekly routine. I came to church simply because my parents brought me and I would be punished if I refused to go. Though many lessons have been taught to me, they all just remained as head knowledge. I knew what was good and what was bad, and how to behave in front of others. It started to become like an act I put up when I was around other people, but I was rotten on the inside.
As the years went by, I became old enough to attend Bethany’s Youth Conference. My first Youth Conference was in 2009 and the theme was “Freed”. To be honest, I can’t remember much about that conference. However, I do remember Pastor talking about how spiritual blindness can affect someone’s ability to see their own sins. This made me realize that for the past 13 years of my life of seeing myself as “a good boy”, I have been so spiritually blind that I was not able to see how dark and sinful my life has become. This message really opened my eyes and made me want to make a change in my life. During that youth conference, I made a prayer, asking God to come into my heart and change my life into one that could be used by Him. From that youth conference, I would say that there was a desire to change. However, the changes were minimal as I still wasn’t very serious about faith.
In March 2013, my Grandfather passed away. This really came as a shock to me because at that point I didn’t realize that it was going to be his final days with us. When it happened, I could really see the love of God through the support of the people in Bethany. Even some who didn’t know him personally came to show their support. Seeing all this really encouraged my heart, and brought much comfort to me. It also showed me the type of faith my Grandfather had as different people shared their memories of him. Knowing that he is now with the Lord, I wanted to be able to see him again one day and made me want to have this kind of faith for myself as well. I began to take my faith more seriously, and started to attend Catechism class and other meetings in church to find out more about this faith.
Since then till now, the Lord has seen me through the different phases in my life, and has taught me many lessons through various means, though I have not always remained faithful to Him. Ever since I enlisted last year, I was faced with a whole new set of challenges, and through this time, the word of God has become something so real to me, and a great source of comfort in times of fear and uncertainty. Psalm 91:1-3 reads:
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, My God, in Him I will trust.” Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.”
This is one of the passages that I hold dear to my heart and has always been a reminder for me to put my trust in the Lord as it speaks about how the Lord will be a refuge and a fortress to those who trust in Him, and that He will deliver us form any challenges we may face, as long as we set our love on Him.
Army hasn’t been a very easy journey, but through these times, the Lord has never failed to be there with me, pulling me through, and again, showed His love for me through people around me such as the church leaders, friends and this family I have in Bethany, who always turn me back to the Lord. This Easter, I am once again reminded of who the Lord Jesus is, and how much he loves each and every one of us, to be willing to suffer so much for such a sinful person like me, and to give His life so that we will no longer be slaves to sin, but be counted as righteous before God, as it says in Romans 6:22,23:
“But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
My response is to take this step of faith to get reaffirmed and to give my life to the Lord and to do my part as a servant of God in this Bethany family.
Written by Luke Tan