Created for His purpose

About a week back, I attended my church first ever young adults! Awesome! Being the group of people that we are, the retreat served as a good break and getaway for our seemingly hectic working life. Looking back, it's been a while now since I last attended a 'church retreat'. Wah, really cannot remember when was the last time.

The theme of the retreat was “Created for His purpose”. For me, it was such an appropriate theme especially in the season that I am right now. In one of my previous entries (read here), I talked about how I find myself back at a cross road. It's been a year now since I'm in Penang and I still don't see a clear picture of where I'm heading or where I should be heading for that matter. So to me, the theme was as if God sengaja mau rub' it in on me. Sweat.

One of the biblical characters we dealt with was that big dreamer, Joseph (Genesis 37). Many a times, we are like Joseph - we have BIG dreams, dreams that may seem outrageous to others and sometimes, even beyond us. People ridicule us and some even hate us, just like Joseph’s brothers did, for having big dreams. But a vision, or dream, speaks about three things; (1.) Sight – it gives us a vivid image (2.) Future – the true manifestation of a vision is something of the future and lastly (3.) Clarity – it speaks of a clear, non double-minded, direction of what God wants us to do in our lives. We should then ask ourselves, “What is my vision?”

What are some of the passions and dreams that you have?

I find myself scribbling down 'people'. Maybe that is why I enjoy performing arts and sports. Both are fields in which I am able to relate to others in a creative and fun way.

More often than not, we keep our dreams in the closet because of the circumstances we face along the way; people reject us, we get laughed upon, the odds seemed to be going against us, etc. If we swing to the other extreme, our dreams can sometimes be self-centred as well. We become totally immersed by them that it becomes all about ‘me’ instead of all about 'Him'. As Christians, we need to have a God-centred vision, with the chief end of bringing glory back to Him while in the process, to be able to grow ourselves in maturity and ultimately sowing seeds that will impact lives for Christ.

The macho & 'lovely' men of GCC.

The most important thing about a dream or a vision is simply God. God is of the utmost importance. It’s not so much about the destination or how we get there, but it’s really just all about Him! This picture is depicted and exemplified in the life of Joseph. He had a dream/vision from God but all odds seemed to be against him – his brothers sold him, he was taken away to Egypt and was even imprisoned – in human perspective, his dream is nothing but a troublemaker. In spite of all that, Joseph never forgotten God and who He is – He is bigger than any of our dreams! God can turn trials and yes, even evil intent, into something beautiful and all this in accordance to His plans! Amazing, isn’t it?

Besides the many interesting sessions that we had, I enjoyed the time spent together as young adults. It was a great opportunity for me to share my dreams and passions while at the same time discovering their personal dreams as well. Eh, we even went to this rather unknown and secluded waterfall somewhere in the middle of Titi Kerawang. Hah! See you all didn't know Penang ada air terjun right? Hehe.

Titi Kerawang Waterfall.

Wah, the water was freezing cold.

It was great! We played a series of 'Mafia'. Wah, apparently my acting skills TOO convincing sampai people won't believe me even when I was telling the truth! Not sure if it's a good thing or not... sweat. Oh and I had my Superhero silly moments...

Superman

vs

Wolverine!

The wonders of silver coloured shining chopsticks.
:)

Having a vision is like having a set of car keys given to you. If you have the keys but you don’t get yourself into the car and drive it off, then the keys’ pretty much useless. Having a vision itself is never enough. There are a few things we need to do as Christians to be able to see through that vision. We need to firstly, discover who God is in our lives. We also then need to discover ourselves, our temperaments, our strengths and our weaknesses.

We are all created uniquely in God’s image for a specific purpose. He gave us gifts accordingly. Now is the time for us to rise up, claim that purpose in our lives, use the gifts that He has so graciously given us, live it out loud and ultimately, making God famous!