YAG II: Book of James – Joshua Phang
Giving God Priority in the Busyness of Life
One lesson that I sought to apply at the start of the year was a lesson inspired from the life of Enoch: when there was a change in the stage of his life, there was also a development in his spiritual walk with God. As he got busier with life, his relationship with God did not take a backseat, but continued to develop. There was greater capacity on the part of Enoch.
At the start of the year, I got married and there have been many changes that come along with marriage in the most basic of ways: the way the toothpaste gets squeezed, whether we sleep with the fan or aircon, how we spend the weekends, etc. Time was something that got more scarce: instead of one family, there are now two families to spend time with, and we also needed to build our own family. As there were changes in the stage of my physical life, and things got busier at work and home, I sought to and am still seeking to find the time and capacity to develop my walk with God even more.
Something I tried to do since the start of the year was to learn to seek God in the mornings as my first thought for the day, instead of reading His Word only at night. At the start, it was difficult getting used to the new routine. I must confess there were many times I just wanted to sleep in, especially when working hours got later and later and I tried to get up earlier and earlier. There were also times when I woke up and a thought that crossed my mind would be: what if I could spend more time clearing the amount of work I had? Thankfully, as I sought to seek God and His Word in the morning, there would be that extra measure of strength God would give to cope during the day.
As I continued the year, I found myself stretched in quite a few ways at work, at home and in church. I was always tempted to pray that God would give me a lighter workload, so that seeking Him and His Word, and serving Him would not be that hard. As I reflected, this was not the right approach to faith and ministry. It was not to have compromises in other aspects of my life in order for God to be first, but instead, it was to do well in whatever I needed to do and to give God an even greater priority in my life. It was to seek to grow in capacity and to trust that the Spirit of God who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit of God that will give life to our mortal bodies, for us to do whatever we have to do. This was a perspective shared with me: to seek the power of God in my life, a power that is greater than any power and is beyond physical comprehension.
Another lesson that impacted me this year was a lesson at YAG II when Pastor Mark was teaching from the Book of James: for us not only to be hearers of the Word, but doers also. We had been encouraged many times to memorise God’s Word before…but I never really sought to do this. Pastor Mark raised the need to memorise God’s Word and asked if we had been doing so. It was a timely reminder and rebuke. I personally felt rebuked because this was still not an aspect of my spiritual walk with God that I had developed. Since then, I have sought to memorise God’s Word. I started with Psalm 111 – partly also because Pastor had been encouraging us to do so at Youth Worship – and now I am attempting Colossians. Amidst the busyness, I try to find time recalling God’s Word on the way to work, recalling His Word during lunch, or when I’m taking short walks and reflecting. Memorising God’s Word has provided much encouragement in times of need.
As I reflect on this year and how hectic this year has been, I am conscious of the need to set aside time for God. I am thankful that God can provide a growth in capacity to cope with all that I need to in life and ministry.