In the face of adversity
In the face of adversity
One person I held with great respect is Dr William Tan, a medical doctor, charity fund-raiser and wheelchair marathoner (Refer ST's interview with him dated 12 July, 2009). Nope, I don't know this man personally, but reading about his determination in overcoming all obstacles that came his way and his passion in fund raising for those more unfortunate than him just makes me respect him from the bottom of my heart.
In his interview with ST, he related honestly how he wrestled with denial when being told that he was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. When he finally knew that there was no escape in confronting the truth, he embraced it bravely. And I quote the words he said during the interview, "I told myself, it's perfectly okay to have cancer. Others do too. I will be a stronger person, a better doctor, because I have crossed the bridge. When I help my patients, I can tell them I've been there before."
I'm not sure if he is a believer, but his outlook of life despite his handicap just encourages and amazes me. Not many people can stand these kind of tests of life in such a positive manner and with such strength.
During the course of my Christian life, I've heard many who were strong believers in the Lord, and some were even fervent ministers of His, falling away and backsliding. Such news always sadden my heart, more so if I knew the person and had seen his or her vibrancy resonate in the lives of those they had touched.
Very often, I asked myself the question, "How can such a fervent believer and minister of the Lord fall away?? ... What caused it?? How did all these happen??" ... I guess perhaps one of the reason, besides the human pride found in each one of us, is the disappointment we chose to wallow in when misunderstood or let down by fellow believers. As a result, we turn these disappointments to God also, and began to doubt His goodness about why He allowed some of these painful experiences to happen in our life. Human disappointment transformed into anger towards God, and by and by, we felt that the God whom we professed to experience and believed in seemed to also be a heartless one.
Comparatively, believers of the Lord seemed to be so much more "fragile" as compared to many non-believers who stood the test of life and who fought with determination to overcome their problems. Why have we become so frail when we are actually called to be strong, for even in our times of weakness, God is our strength.
What has gone wrong? During our times of adversity, how can we be sure that we can still stand with strong faith in God and stood through the difficult and painful experiences unscathed? I wonder ... I ponder ... and I continue to pray ...
One person I held with great respect is Dr William Tan, a medical doctor, charity fund-raiser and wheelchair marathoner (Refer ST's interview with him dated 12 July, 2009). Nope, I don't know this man personally, but reading about his determination in overcoming all obstacles that came his way and his passion in fund raising for those more unfortunate than him just makes me respect him from the bottom of my heart.
In his interview with ST, he related honestly how he wrestled with denial when being told that he was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. When he finally knew that there was no escape in confronting the truth, he embraced it bravely. And I quote the words he said during the interview, "I told myself, it's perfectly okay to have cancer. Others do too. I will be a stronger person, a better doctor, because I have crossed the bridge. When I help my patients, I can tell them I've been there before."
I'm not sure if he is a believer, but his outlook of life despite his handicap just encourages and amazes me. Not many people can stand these kind of tests of life in such a positive manner and with such strength.
During the course of my Christian life, I've heard many who were strong believers in the Lord, and some were even fervent ministers of His, falling away and backsliding. Such news always sadden my heart, more so if I knew the person and had seen his or her vibrancy resonate in the lives of those they had touched.
Very often, I asked myself the question, "How can such a fervent believer and minister of the Lord fall away?? ... What caused it?? How did all these happen??" ... I guess perhaps one of the reason, besides the human pride found in each one of us, is the disappointment we chose to wallow in when misunderstood or let down by fellow believers. As a result, we turn these disappointments to God also, and began to doubt His goodness about why He allowed some of these painful experiences to happen in our life. Human disappointment transformed into anger towards God, and by and by, we felt that the God whom we professed to experience and believed in seemed to also be a heartless one.
Comparatively, believers of the Lord seemed to be so much more "fragile" as compared to many non-believers who stood the test of life and who fought with determination to overcome their problems. Why have we become so frail when we are actually called to be strong, for even in our times of weakness, God is our strength.
What has gone wrong? During our times of adversity, how can we be sure that we can still stand with strong faith in God and stood through the difficult and painful experiences unscathed? I wonder ... I ponder ... and I continue to pray ...
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