Blessed Dental Visits

I used to have this fear in my life - seeing a dentist. I do not know whether it was because of the painful and nasty experiences I had when I was schooling. I remember the school dentist was always fierce, angry and blaming us for not brushing our teeth so she had a hard time cleaning them up. In those days, the technology was not so advanced, hence the dentist had to use a sharp scalpel to scrap out all the tartar and plaque. It was a horrible and painful experience. Not only was it unpleasant, I often times felt condemned because my teeth were always so dirty. And so as I grew up, I had an aversion to dentists and I told myself to stay away from them whenever possible.

In my adult life, I again had a nasty experience with dentists. That time I had to let a dentist extract my imbedded wisdom tooth if not it would cause me problems in future. What happened was the anesthetic wore off towards the tail end of the surgery and I could feel the dentist sewing up my gums. The recovery process was also painful and I cried out to God asking why I had to go through this painful surgery. Well, as I grew, I would delay my visits to the dentists as much as possible. I only visited the dentist once in a few years. The last time I went three years ago, the dentist gave me a shock when he told me that one of my upper wisdom tooth was decayed beyond repair and had to be pulled out. He wanted to pull out my tooth there and then but I refused. I didn't feel any pain or discomfort so why should I take out my tooth? I didn't quite believe what he told me. And so I left it as such.

But as the years passed, I often have this niggling fear that what he said was true, yet I did not dare visit another dentist because I did not want them to tell me to extract my tooth.  So when I started having gum infections, swollen gums and gum pain, my fears were confirmed, yet I did nothing about it. Every time I had gum infection I would believe God to heal my gums and when the pain was gone, I would put this issue aside and try not to think about it. But this problem recurred once in a while and I also started feeling sensitive about drinking hot and cold stuff. I knew that I had decayed teeth but I still didn't want to face my fears.

Until June this year, I brought Joshua to his dental visit in school. The dentist complimented him, saying that it was so brave of him to put up with the extensive scaling since it was his first time. Then after I saw how clean his teeth became, I suddenly found the motivation to see a dentist. Somehow this time round, the motivation of getting my teeth cleaned outweighed the fear of extracting my teeth. I told myself even if the dentist said to extract my teeth, I would be mentally prepared. I wanted to get down to the root of my recurring gum infection. If my tooth was badly decayed, I rather have it out of my mouth than to leave it there to cause problems in future.

And so I finally did visit the dentist last Monday and she extracted two decayed wisdom tooth. It was rather painless and my gums recovered the next day. I really thank God for helping me overcome this fear and I was really relieved when my teeth were extracted. Finally this cannot cause me pain in future. I couldn't have my teeth cleaned last Monday so I went back for another appointment yesterday. It was a little painful when she was cleaning the tartar but I was happy when the whole process was over. Finally I got it out of the way and I not only got clean teeth, The Lord also restored the pain and stigma of visiting a dentist and I overcome this fear. Praise Jesus!

Patterns in divine shifts

I have noticed over the past few years, that there are similarities in what God told me, how I felt and the events that happened leading up to a divine shift in season. After a few times of observing this pattern, I am more apt to discern the shifts in seasons. Firstly, God will usually prepare me with verses that speak of Him doing a new thing like Isaiah 43:19 or messages that speak of change coming. He will then tell me to let go of the past for it is no more. The old has gone, the new has come.

 Secondly, God would usually tell me to prepare for action, no more waiting, arise and go, get ready to move on, be on the expectant lookout for the new things months before the season change. He would also enlarge my vision, stretch my tent curtains and renew my mind to prepare me to embrace the change that is come in up. The key is to remain flexible and close to The Lord for He might do things in a different way. New wine cannot be poured into old wineskins.

Thirdly, just before I step into the Promised land, The Lord will bring me through a review of the past journey taken. This is an important step, looking back before He moves me forward. In doing so, He will show me that I have finished that chapter well and He is pleased with me. Hence He is now ready to move me on, He promises to complete the good work He started in me for that season. Looking back also serves the purpose of setting up memorial stones as signs of His faithfulness. He will also tell me to remember that it is The Lord who caused this to come to pass. I am to give all the glory back to Jesus. Let he who boasts boast in The Lord. He will also remind me to meditate on His word, to be strong and courageous in the days ahead.

Fourthly, just before the divine shifts take place, I find myself undergoing a lot of pressure and opposition. Many distractions also occur to take my focus off what The Lord is doing in my life. I would feel like a woman about to give birth, with all those labour pains or contractions, making me feel so uncomfortable, restless and vulnerable. I would feel like a door has closed behind me, there is no turning back and yet the door in front is not opened yet. I would feel so stuck and then I would cry out to The Lord asking Him to show me evidences of change, of the new things He spoke of. Yet The Lord is so good. He would assure me again that He will finish what He started and when He opens a door, no one can shut. The truth is the door is still open even though I may not feel it or see it yet. When I reached this tipping point, I would see the door ahead of me open or I would feel things falling into place.

Lastly, there is usually a step of faith required. The step of faith is to respond to His call to the new things He has began in my life. At this point, after the open door has been revealed, it is clear that a change has occurred, a divine shift has taken place. Yet this calls for a response for me to walk through that open door. This step is irreversible. When you walk through that door, it will be stepping into a whole new world. Everything will not be the same anymore. Yes, open doors are exciting yet the unknown changes ahead are unsettling. There will surely be adjustments ahead and you will wonder how it would be like.

At this point, there is no room for doubts or unbelief. The long-awaited change is here, the door ahead is finally opened and it really does not make sense to draw back now. You just got to trust God that since He has brought you thus far, He will surely bring you to cross the finish line. He will finish what He started in you. So don't think so much, just obey Him and walk through that open door. A whole new world awaits you and you will never regret it. He will cause you to successfully transit into a new season. Congratulations and rejoice for He has brought you up to another level, bringing you closer to your divine destiny.

When God opens the door, the changes would start to unveil one by one. This is when things started to move and there is a certain momentum. This is an exciting time of fulfillment in your life when you witness the power of His open doors and the manifestation of His promises. It's harvest time. The things that He told you in advance finally came to pass, one by one. When He opens the door of your heart's desire, you will feel so loved and so grateful. There is no time to wallow in past disappointments or pay attention to strongholds or distractions.

 There is just so much excitement in store and all your attention is caught up in preparing for the new things ahead. You can also be sure that even as a certain promise that you have been waiting for years has yet to be revealed, it doesn't mean that God has shut the door. It just means it is awaiting the appointed time to be revealed and the time is very very near. You know it in your heart because of the signs of the fig tree happening which are the events leading up to this open door.

In fact, at this stage, you are past caring when this door will open because you are pre-occupied with the new things God has done in your life. You know that as you get along with your daily chores, having the time of your life, this door will open unexpectedly. This is when you know you have truly gotten a breakthrough in this area, when you have totally let go of it that you become nonchalant about it. It has no power to grip your heart anymore...Christ has give you victory. You have finally overcome the age-old bondage. Rejoice and celebrate!

Open door to part-time work

Indeed it is true that what God opens, no man can shut. There were two doors that God opened for my part-time work since Apr 2013. I had been waiting on The Lord to confirm which is the right one. One was in the new company that Heng is working now and the other was in church office. It was actually a breakthrough because for the past two years I had periodically asked God for open doors to work part-time but no open doors. But somehow from this year, I had this desire to work part-time again. However, when I applied for part-time admin work in an educational institution early this year, I received a word during Sunday service and I knew it was a closed door. What I was not sure was whether God has closed the door to part-time work completely or that it was not my time yet. Or that was not the right place. 

It was interesting that this desire to work part-time came up again this year but when I thought about it, there was no heartache or pain associated with the thought. In the past, working part-time was like a compromise, like a stop-gap measure to feeling bored at home. It reminded me of the pain of waiting for my second baby, that because this promise had not manifested soon enough, so that was why I had to start looking for some work again. But this time round, when the desire to work part-time came, it was purely out of a desire in my heart. It had nothing to do with being bored at home. In fact, I was enjoying my free time at home with The Lord.

It is true that God works through our desires in the new covenant. God has made it so easy for us in the new covenant to be directed by His wisdom and love. We no longer have to run to prophets to find out His will for us. He Himself leads us with His prompting. In early Apr, when I was offered the part-time job to work in the new company that Heng is working, I was happy but I did not feel that was the right place. My heart's desire was to work in the church office. I waited for this open door till early May and I still did not see anything happening so I concluded maybe it was not time for me to work in church yet. Since there was no sign of an open door in that area, I thought God had closed the door to my part-time work.

I told God it was ok. Even if I did not work, it was ok. After all I was busy in end May and for June school holidays, I would have to take care of Joshua. Well, I felt there was no hurry to get to work now. I could wait for His timing. But the fact was: God did not close these two doors. He left them open. It was just a matter of time before I walked through the open door. What God opens, no man can shut. If it was His will for me to work in church, I did not have to use my self efforts or force open a door. I know that if God did not open that door, it would be useless to try to make it open. I was so dependent on Him for the open doors. Anyway, I thank God that I was not desperate to work part-time. I can rest at home anyway.

God is so good. He heard my prayers and He answered them. One day in mid May I felt impressed to send a message to my Pastor to tell him I prayed for him and the pastoral team.  My Pastor really appreciated my prayers and he said he was thinking about me the other day. He wanted to talk to me about helping out with care group matters in church office. Wow! I was so happy when I saw this. It was God's hand at work. God must be the One who impressed upon Pastor's mind about me. I am so grateful to Him for always opening the door for me. Be it the care group leader appointment or the desire to serve at the Star, or this desire to work in church office, it has always been The Lord who did all the work. I never had to force my way through an open door or try too hard. I really feel so loved when I see this open door and so honored that Pastor would be even thinking of asking me to help.

Yes, open doors in life meant opportunity, progress and promotion but at the same time, you would have questions about the changes. It was exciting to walk through an open door yet you wonder about what was ahead. Things that were unknown made us jittery. Most of these doubts were silly. Imagine you have been waiting all these years for things to change, for things to move in your life yet when it came, you get the jitters. But during this time these doubts appeared large and threatening. At this time if you start believing the doubts you will not enjoy the blessing of the open door. For destroying these doubts you will have to boldly say out loud that what God has opened for you no one can shut. You have to believe it with all your heart. Yes, shout it out loud that what God has opened no one can shut. 

That was how I felt earlier on. I felt that a door has closed behind me, although I did not know how. I felt like the old season was passing and a new beginning was on the horizon. I sensed that changes started occurring since Apr, yet I did not know what exactly were these changes and the magnitude of the adjustments I had to make. I also know that more changes were on the way yet I did not know when they would happen. I sensed an open door to part-time work is opening since Apr but I did not know what it was. I thought it was the offer to work in Heng's company. But it was not. Then in early May, when the call for recruitment for volunteers to work in church office came, my spirit leapt. I thought this was it. But when the church did not call for a while, I started to doubt if I sensed correctly. And I wondered if I was suitable to work in church office. 

Earlier before God's plan was revealed to me, I was feeling jittery with the thoughts of all these imminent changes in my life, Heng's job, growth in care group numbers, part-time work etc. My doubts were whether I could handle all these changes for I already felt stretched managing the increased care group size. But God was so good. He reassured me again and again that it was He who opened those doors and He would surely bring me to cross over to the new season. He who started a good work in me would bring it to completion. Jesus is the author and finisher of my faith. I would surely make it to the finish line. Indeed these doubts were silly. I wondered if I heard correctly from The Lord about the open doors and whether which was the right door for me. But His word was confirmed by the events that happened after He spoke. It was true that I sensed correctly and when I knew that it is His will, He is the One who opened the door, then I am confident that He will empower me to walk through that door.