Weeks 03 & 04 (11) - Blessings of Divine Guidance

Finally the waiting is over and I praise God that He grants me the faith and perseverance to pass the test!

I shared previously that after my 6-month contract came to an end at the end of August last year. I tried looking for another job. I contacted many people I knew – clients, consultants, contractors, …. and I exhausted every possible avenue, and nothing happened, except one good Christian friend gave me a very small transportation job out of kindness!

I was under a fair bit of pressure, because by faith, I have suggested to Kim to resign from her bus & school job in London and join me here in Hong Kong. I knew it is important to do that because it is not wise for us to be separated for too long!

Also by faith, I rented an office space to start the BBC Ministries in November!

Kim resigned from her jobs on 1st November and was planning to join me in December!

Although I had been through the waiting test before, back in 2005, at that time Kim was working and our monthly expenses were not high. This time the monthly outlay is much higher – monthly rental for the apartment, monthly rental for the BBC School and monthly mortgage repayment for our London house!

The test really stretched my faith to near breaking point, and I had to dig deep in my trust in God and tried to remind myself the many victories God had given me in the past!

Then I had a lunch meeting with some old engineering friends just before Christmas and learned that one of the regulars could not join because he was really busy. I registered that in my mind but at the time I was still chasing a couple of other opportunities.

Came the new year, those other opportunities were confirmed dead. So I picked up the phone and call this busy friend. He sounded excited on the phone and hinted that I could relieve him of some of his workload!

The next morning I went into his office for a chat with his boss (the Managing Director) and got an offer to start work the following Monday (10th Jan.). Praise the Lord!!!

The office address is 633 King’s Road and I like it, because [Matt. 6:33] is my signature scripture – “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” And King’s Road to me means the way of the King (Jesus). I knew then the job was from God!

The MD was my neighbour back in the early 80s at Braemar Hill Mansion in North Point Midlevel, where our 2 sons grew up. He kind of knew about my working history and the fact that I left Hong Kong at the peak of my career to go to the UK as a missionary. Hong Kong after all is only a small village. It was a good job that I didn’t do anything bad :).

On the first day of work, the MD invited me to lunch and introduced me to a number of his senior staff. He pointed out that 2 of the ladies (senior architects) were Christians. In the conversation they got to know that I was a pastor in the UK :).

The company is a one-stop building consulting firm and the total staff is over 150, comprising all disciplines of the building profession. I found out that there was a prayer group in the company!

Indeed this is a great opening to minister in the marketplace, esp. when senior management is opened about it. It is a busy practice working on a vast number of small building projects – both private and government. Hence the opportunity to meet many clients, architects and other sub-consultants, plus all the not-yet believers in the company, including my Director friend and the MD……. a huge harvest field!

All in all, I really am grateful to God for His faithfulness and His amazing providence, and for not testing me beyond what I could bear [1 Cor. 10:13] ! But it is more than just financial provision. It is also a ministry!

Yes, let us continue to “Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live……Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them — the LORD, who remains faithful forever. He…..gives food to the hungry. The LORD……lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous…….The LORD reigns forever……for all generations. Praise the LORD. [Ps 146:1-10 NIV]

Indeed our help is from God. “This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve." [Jer 17:5-10 NIV]

If you are not a believer in Jesus yet, let me encourage and challenge you with the Word of God. “The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt, with mighty power he led them out of that country, he endured their conduct for about forty years in the desert, he overthrew seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to his people as their inheritance. All this took about 450 years. "After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul….who ruled forty years. After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.' "From this man's descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised. Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel. As John was completing his work, he said: 'Who do you think I am? I am not that one. No, but he is coming after me, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.' "Brothers…..it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people. "We tell you the good news....."Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses. Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you: "'Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.'" [Acts 13:16-41 NIV]

The Word of God is the bread of life for our soul. Therefore “pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise (the Word of God)…..for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips. So that your trust may be in the LORD…... [Prov 22:17-29 NIV]

Amen and amen!