Testimony 23/03/06: The March

Normally, I am very occupied with work. But today I stayed at home. Not because I was not well. Not because I was lazy (well… a little bit of that). But because there was riot all around the town. About 10,000 blue-collar workers gathered in Bandung alone, protesting the proposed new law regarding employer-employee relationship. The group broke into factories, forcing people to join the march in front of the governor’s office. I was told to stay home. I didn’t feel safe to go anyway.

My elder brother got caught in the middle of the mob. My dad was angry at the fact that the police was not able to do anything at all. TV stations made big reports regarding today’s incidents, apparently happened in various cities around Indonesia. Bigger gatherings are planned on 29th. Thank God my family are okay, including the family business even though the crowd managed to break into the factory earlier this morning.

Testimony 23/03/06: Knowledge of God

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” 2 Peter 1:2

I was reading the Bible when I bumped into this verse.

Grace and peace. Isn’t that what we need in this time and age? When demands of live cry out as soon as we put our feet on the floor in the morning? When stress of work comes knocking at our office doors? When bills mount up at the end of the month? Even when we watch news at night about how corrupted this world is?

Grace and peace. That’s what we need. We need grace and peace when we feel uncertain on where live leads us to. When problems come and we are not sure what to do. And grace and peace shall be ours… in ABUNDANCE! Yes, in abundance!

How? THROUGH the KNOWLEDGE of God and of Jesus our Lord. Romans 10:17 says, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” God is faithful. God is good. His love endures forever. God is just. He is righteous. He is holy and He has accepted us in the righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ.

If we don’t know the divine qualities of God, how can we have peace when we are in trouble? How can we know He is strong to help? How can we know that God is going to help us in the first place? How can we be sure that everything will work for good?

Let us get to know Him more today, that we may have grace and peace in abundance.

Testimony 22/03/06: Safety Belts

I went to Tasikmalaya today, a place famous for its quality embroidery. My colleagues and I were on our way to visit our business partner.

I suggested my colleagues to wear safety belts while in the car. But they refused. Well… it is not compulsory for back seat passengers to wear one in Indonesia. So my colleagues didn’t see it necessary. But I didn’t feel at peace.

It is a three-hour drive from Bandung to Tasik. If anything should happen, the people not wearing safety belts will be like that of a pin ball, tossed here and there and, not only they injure themselves, they will also injure others in the car, even those wearing the belts. I prayed in my heart, “God, please send us safely to Tasik.”

Not long after that, they voluntarily took the belts and wore them! Unbelievable! Oh how God answers prayer! Praise God!

Testimony 12/03/06: Believers

I close my bathroom door and cry. I argue again with my brother. And oh… I feel so bad about it! About not being a good testimony at home. I feel that I was so accustomed to live alone I should not live with anybody else.

And at work? I am replacing an export manager only after 3 months experience. I am leading a team without much knowledge at all. I have the pressure of doing everything without any mistakes, which I know I can’t. But I can feel the burden getting heavier on my shoulder.

Then I heard it… It is written: we have been saved by grace, not by works, that anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:9). Yes! By GRACE! Not by works! Not by deeds! Not by what we do or what we have! But by grace!

No body tells me to do everything perfectly. I put the pressure on myself. I think so much on what other people would think of me, or what I am doing and all. I act in a way what I think people are expecting of me. And how it steals my joy and peace!

If we are made to achieve, then we will be called as achievers, not believers, Joyce Meyer said. What a profound truth that needs to be reminded time and again.