Tag: #trustingod

From Redemption to Restoration

Redemption is where God starts – how He gave His Son to pay the price for our sin. After we are redeemed by Jesus, He continues to restore our lives, so that we don’t live as damaged goods, but wine in new wineskin.

WEEK 6 Theme: From Redemption to Restoration

In the story of Ruth – she lost her husband and had no future. Boaz stepped in as her kinsman-redeemer. He paid the price to legally restore her inheritance.

Ultimately, redemption points to Jesus, who paid for the debt of our sin on the cross. Fully. This redemption means that sin has no authority over us, shame has no hold over us, and our past does not own our future. We are no longer condemned by our sin. We are fully redeemed.

Redemption settles our position before God. Restoration transforms our condition.

Restoration looks like: courage replacing fear, wisdom replacing regret, peace replacing chaos. Hence purpose emerges from our pain and redemption.

Redemption happens in a moment. Restoration unfolds over a lifetime.

Some believers stay mentally stuck at redemption – knowing that we are saved and forgiven, yet living like broken and stuck in life.

The same God who redeemed you is committed to restoring – your character, your calling, your confidence – and this will lead to increasing your capacity to influence and empower others.

Weekly Intention

He redeems what was lost.

He restores what was broken.

And He often gives you something better than what you thought you needed.

This week, instead of simply asking God to fix things, ask Him to transform you through them:

  1. Write down something in your life that you want God to redeem and restore
  2. Pray and place it in God’s hands
  3. Release it and trust that God will redeem and restore it in His amazing way

Question: What part of my story do I need to release so God can redeem and restore it?

Reflect Before The Year Ends

As the year draws to an end, let us take some time to pause and reflect. Amidst the busy festive season or rushing through year-end closing activities, let us ask ourselves these three questions below.

What did this year reveal about what truly matters to me?

It doesn’t matter what you said mattered to you – but what your time, energy and attention kept returning to. Your action speaks louder than your words. Your daily habits reveal more about what matters to you, than what we think matters to you. My faith has really seen me through my struggles this year. God has shown me His protection, provision and abundant blessings. My devotional and gratitude journal have helped me stay faithful and grounded. God truly matters to me.

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also – Matthew 6:21

Where did I grow – especially in ways no one else saw?

I grew in trusting God, especially in what I perceived as delays. What I have learnt is that there is no delay in God’s perfect timing – it is God’s way of preparing me for His divine dream. God knows when I am ready, and when I am not. I need to trust Him more than ever, shut down the constant doubts and stop comparing with other people. What felt slow might be deep work – just like how you don’t see the roots growing deep and wide underground.

Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work being – Zechariah 4:10

What is God inviting me to carry forward to next year?

What I have learnt is that my struggle in waiting for God’s timing is part of the process of preparing me for my divine dream. Just like how brewing stew takes time for the flavour to come out. Rush the process, and you won’t get the full flavour. I will carry forward this waiting time – trusting that God will reveal His plan in due time while preparing me according to His plan.

Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord – Lamentations 3:40

My Invitation

This is my invitation to you today: take time to reflect – not to judge yourself but to listen to your heart lovingly. Let this reflection turn your passing year into lasting wisdom.

Trusting Life’s Traffic Lights

Recently, I read Matthew McConaughey’s book, “Greenlights”. Yes, the American actor who made the famous line, “Alright! Alright! Alright!”. He wrote this book based on his many years of journaling. The green lights were moments when his life seem to flow effortlessly. In contrast, he also had red lights and yellow lights – when there were delay, setbacks, and slowdowns in his life.

The question today is this: What if these green, yellow and red lights are God’s ways of directing our paths?

Red Lights – God’s Protection

We tend to see red lights in our lives as failure or rejection, but often it is God protecting us. We are so sure of our own ways, or we want things in our timing, that we don’t see the red light stopping us from crashing into a busy intersection in our lives. In hindsight, we can sometimes see God’s protection revealed from what we thought was a missed opportunity.

Proverbs 16:9 In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps

Yellow Lights – God’s Preparation

Many a times, we feel frustrated when things are on hold, when we are stuck, or our plans are thwarted. We feel disappointed, even at God. In wisdom, we will later find out that it was a season of preparation, growth and testing of our patience and perseverance.

Isaiah 40:31 – But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.

Green Lights – God’s Provision

Have you ever go through a green wave – a series of green lights driving through a stretch of street? Green lights in our lives feel good – when doors are open, prayers are answered, and we are moving forward. Green lights remind us that God is faithful in blessing us and that He is a God of Abundance.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.

My Invitation

This is my invitation to you today: (1) be patient and trust God in the red lights, (2) prepare yourself and seek growth during the yellow lights, and (3) praise and thank God for the many green lights in your life. Let us always surrender to God’s timing for every red, yellow and green lights in our lives.

When Fear Wears the Mask of Procrastination

We often beat ourselves up for procrastinating. We call it laziness. We accuse ourselves of lacking disciple and willpower. But what if the real culprit isn’t laziness?

What if it’s fear?

Behind every delay, there may be a deeper emotion hiding—fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of not being good enough. We don’t avoid the task because we’re lazy; we avoid it because doing it exposes something vulnerable inside us.

We Delay What Matters Most

Have you noticed that we often procrastinate on the things that mean the most to us? That medical checkup we should make. That conversation we need to have. That idea to start a book club or sports club.

These aren’t trivial tasks—they matter. And that’s precisely why we delay them. We fear that starting means we might fail. Or worse, that we might not be enough. Fear traps us—but God invites us to trust.

“Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” — Proverbs 29:25

Perfectionism: The Polished Mask of Fear

Perfectionism often disguises itself as excellence, but at its core, it’s fear in a tailored suit. We say we’re “just waiting until it’s ready” or “I want to give it my best,” but sometimes we’re just stalling because we’re scared it won’t be perfect.

God doesn’t call us to perfection. He calls us to obedience. There will never be a perfect time. The best time is now—flawed, messy, but surrendered to Him.

“If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.” — Ecclesiastes 11:4 (TLB)

The Cure for Fear is Trust

Procrastination loses power when we anchor ourselves in God’s promises. He doesn’t expect us to have it all figured out—He simply asks us to take the next step in faith. You’re not walking alone. God is with you.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified… for the Lord your God goes with you.” — Deuteronomy 31:6

My Invitation

This is my invitation to you today: take a moment to notice what you’re putting off—not with shame, but with curiosity. Ask yourself: What am I afraid of?

Then bring that fear to God. Let His strength fill your weakness.

Because on the other side of that fear might be your next breakthrough.

Cultivate the Garden of Your Faith

Growing our faith is like cultivating a garden. It needs tender loving care and patience. Plants do not grow overnight – similarly, our faith takes time to grow and mature. We need our Master Gardener to help us cultivate our Garden of Faith.

Prepare the Soil – Make Room for God

Before any seed is planted, the soil must be tilled. That means removing rocks, weeds, and thorns—the habits, thoughts, and distractions that harden our hearts or clutter our minds. We have to ask ourselves: where is our attention and focus? Is there any space in our lives for stillness, prayer and reflection? Just as the gardener clears the soil, we are called to examine, purify and prepare our hearts to make room for God.

“Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness upon you.” — Hosea 10:12 (ESV)

Sow with Intention – Plant the Seeds of Faith

Planting takes intentionality. Faith grows when we consistently invest in it – through prayer, devotions, worship, scripture reading, acts of love and kindness, trust and obedience to God. We have to sow the seeds of God’s love in our hearts and nurture our faith intentionally.

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” — Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

Trust the Process – Growth Takes Time

Gardens don’t bloom overnight. Likewise, our faith matures through seasons—sometimes in silence, sometimes in storms. But underneath, God is always working. While waiting, we must not lose heart, but stay vigilant against the weeds of bitterness, comparison or apathy that can take root if left unchecked. Even when we don’t see anything happening, know that God is working underneath the soil and growing our roots for a sturdy foundation against the storms of life.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest…” — Galatians 6:9

My Invitation

This is my invitation to you today – to start cultivating your garden of faith by weeding out the negative voices and plant seeds of God’s Words to sink its roots in the fertile soil of our hearts and for the branches to grow strong and tall.

Wax On, Wax Off – Trust in the Process

This famous saying, “Wax on, wax off” was based on the 1984 Karate Kid movie, where Miyagi-san was teaching Daniel-san karate through waxing the car, washing the floor, and painting the fence. Miyagi-san’s part was to teach, and Daniel-san’s part was to learn, without question. And while doing it, “Breath – don’t forget to breath, very important!”, reminded Miyagi-san.

Daniel-san grew impatient and became suspicious that Miyagi-san was using him for child labour. He wanted to quit because he didn’t see the result that he wanted and the way he expected it. Later he realised that the unusual training from Miyagi-san formed the strong foundation of his karate training, even though he couldn’t see it at first.

It is very similar in our lives. We see so many things we need to do, and sometimes we do them willingly or obligingly or grudgingly; other times, we quit. Sometimes, in our young foolish mind, we don’t see the benefit of studying hard for a good education. In our work, we don’t see that our jobs are stepping stones to a higher career path. In our health, we don’t see how our eating and sleeping habits greatly affect our health, until one or two decades later. We prefer instant results.

In our faith, we don’t see the hand of God working in our lives for our good, especially when we are going thought terrible trials. We don’t realise that God takes our failures and turn them into something good. A blessing in disguise. Many times, God uses our pain to grow us to be more compassionate and to help others in need.

When Miyagi-san instructed Daniel-san to practice without questioning, he is asking Daniel-san to trust him. Similarly, God is asking us to put our trust in Him. When Miyagi-san reminded Daniel-san to breathe, God is reminding us to pray.

Just as Daniel-san couldn’t see the purpose of doing the wax on and wax off – we don’t always see God’s hand in the mundane or tragic events in our lives. Only in trusting God that we can eventually see God’s amazing plan when He reveals it to us.

So, continue to wax on, wax off!!! Have fun and enjoy the process!

Start, even if you are not ready

We have a tendency to analyse and research when we want to start a personal project – Google search, ChatGPT, seeking expert opinion and friends’ advice, do research – all to make sure our little project that we have been dreaming of is fail-safe..!

The problem with all these checking and analysing is that we end up not starting at all – the curse of “analysis paralysis”. Furthermore, all the preparations might not prevent us from failure, as many things are not under our control.

So when do we start? NOW.

How do we start? Whatever first steps we can take. We don’t need to figure out all the steps to start our project. Along the way, we will figure things out, as we get more feedback and can improve on our initial action plans.

God always puts in our heart the desire to dream and make it happen. He will be the one to show us the way, but He will only show us a few steps at a time. Just so we trust Him. He will remove the obstacles in our way, and bring the connections and resources that we need. Sometimes, it is harder or longer than we expected, as we prefer to have things fast and easy. God wants to grow our character and it takes time. Humans and plants do not grow overnight – it takes time and seasons. Caterpillar takes time to turn into a beautiful butterfly.

We don’t see the finish line of a race when we are at the starting line. God sees the finish line and our victory. We journey together on this adventure, but we need to be at the starting line to start the race.

Trust in God’s timing.

Trust in the process of growth.

Just START.

Whether you feel ready or not.

Especially when you don’t feel ready!

How to Nourish a Starved Soul

We nourish our bodies with nutritious food.
So I pondered: how do I nourish my starved soul?

Let me share my ways:
– Gratitude: give thanks for the many blessings in my life
– Kindness: being kind to myself, and not beat myself up when I fail
– Gentleness: be gentle and go easy on myself on hard days
– Forgiveness: forgive myself
– Experience pain and sorrow: to allow the emotions to overwhelm me in a safe space, and not bury them all the time; to cry, scream or shout or any other ways to let my emotions flow out safely
– Reading: to gain insight, learnings, and to enter into the world of the author
– Travel: to explore new places, food, cultures and environment
– Support: to seek support from family and friends who understands me, instead of carrying the burden by myself
– Authenticity: to have the courage to be vulnerable and to reveal my true self, good and bad
– Beauty: to recognize the beauty within my soul and treasure it
– Service: to reach out to serve others in need, to service in a community
– To Love: to love others unconditionally, no strings attached
– To Be Loved: to allow others to love me unconditionally, to allow them to enter into my inner world
– To know that – It’s okay not to be okay sometimes, that I haven’t gotten it all together in some seasons of my life, but it’s okay
– To Wait: to know that I sometimes need to wait for God’s timing for my life, that He is working in my life as I wait patiently for Him
– To Meditate or Practice Mindfulness: to quieten my busy mind and seek my inner strength within
– To Trust in God: for me, this is the most important one; to trust that God is always faithful to walk with me through my joys and sorrows, and that He is always with me through thick and thin

To tell you the truth: I don’t always do all these things above. When our bodies are starved, we can feel the hunger pangs. But when our souls are starved, we are sometimes not even aware of it. Let us always remind ourselves to nourish our souls lovingly.

Feel free to add to my list in the comments. I would love to find out more ways to nourish my soul. Thanks!