Pastoral Letters

Life Is Unpredictable

April 23, 2023 Author:Pastor Andrew Tan
In these several weeks, Singapore, including the church, has seen a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases. But thank God for keeping the church safe—all are recovering. There are, however, also incidents of hospitalisation due to various sicknesses. At this point of writing, some are still going through uncertainties due to sicknesses. We shall continue to pray for God’s mercy, healing, and grace. These few weeks make us understand again that life is a difficult journey. Human beings are very fragile. The psalmist aptly says, “The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more” (Psalm103:15-16). Job, the suffering servant of God, likewise says, “Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble. They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure” (Job 14:1-2). We are well today, but tomorrow we may be gone. Is life therefore empty of joy and peace? Yes. Life is more than miserable. It is frustrating, meaningless, frightening and unbearable. It is also hopeless: your life ends in death. Worse still: you do not know where you will go after you die. (The Bible has the answer: In eternity, you will either be in hell or heaven. You need Jesus who alone can bring you to heaven.)

But if you are a Christian, that is, you have received Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, I say to you: Rejoice! Why? First, Jesus says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Our Lord did not say there is no trouble. Rather, he says he has overcome the troubles, every trouble, in this world. But you must be “in me,” that is, in Jesus. This means, you must depend on Jesus to live life. You truly depend on him when you believe his promises rather than believe the world’s uncertainties. You depend on him when you obey him by obeying the instructions in the Bible. Jesus has overcome even your sufferings. Jesus once told the great apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). Whose “weakness”? Your weakness. This promise means: the weaker you are, the more powerful is God’s grace. Hence, God’s grace is sufficient. What about tomorrow’s trouble? There will be grace for tomorrow too. Dear child of God, trust and obey. You will emerge unscathed.

Second, you can rejoice because the sufferings in this world are temporal. “Then I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labour, for their deeds will follow them’” (Rev 14:13).

After a little while (100 years compared to eternity is very short; hence “a little while”), you will rest from all your troubles. For now, we must press on.

But we do not have to wait until we enter heaven before we get rest. Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28). But if you are going to find rest in this life, you must do what Jesus says next: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt 11:29-30). What is the meaning of taking on Jesus’ yoke? As an ox takes on a yoke to work, taking on Jesus’ yoke means to obey Jesus. If you live a life of obedience, you will find rest for your soul. And this yoke is not difficult: it is easy to carry. It is filled with joy and peace. There is joy even in this life of suffering for a Christian. Yes, life is unpredictable. But life is definitely bearable because you have Jesus. Press on, dear pilgrim on earth.