To be found faithful

Lately, I have lost sleep as I pondered different ways of being a good human resource manager to my local staff, whom I love dearly. This process has also opened my ears to hear the cry of God’s heart more clearly. And it is this – Will you still draw close and love Me, even if there’s nothing you can gain from Me?

Right now, we have two local workers, both of whom are very dear to our hearts. Of the two, one young man is showing great commitment to the vision, and says his goal is to become a good English teacher.

I have known Frans for about a year and a half, and in the last six months or so, he has been an absolute pillar of strength, a faithful helper and an earnest follower of God. Just this morning, we read about God’s provision for His children in Matthew 7:7-11. Out of that, Frans shared about how his life has changed since he knew God personally.

He recounted an episode where he was talking to his uncle, who said he didn’t have money to pay for his university education.

This was what Frans said to him. “My father died when I was very young. I never knew what it meant to be loved by my father. But now I know that I have a Father in Heaven who loves me. If I ask for bread, He will not give me a stone. Uncle, you don’t have to worry about my life. I won’t starve to death. God is my Father.”

I had to hold back my tears as Frans repeated those words to us. How very precious they must be, to God’s ear.

As Frans’ teachers, older sisters, and now, his bosses and leaders, every fibre of our being wants to bless him, to prosper him, to set him on the path of progress and growth. Unknown to him, we have been making serious plans to send him overseas for English learning when the time is right. We have already put aside money for that purpose. For now, Frans does not know any of these plans, as we continue to groom him and discern his character. I am confident that he will pass the test and be found faithful. I cannot wait for the day when I can share the happy news with him, to tell him that I am proud of him and that he can now enjoy a reward that he has deserved because of his service and commitment.

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will our Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Even as I store up these plans in my heart to bless Frans, I am experiencing in a new way God’s love towards His children – and I am moved to weeping.

He too has wonderful and awesome plans to bless us, plans that He must keep secret for now, so that we can be proven faithful in His eyes. He cannot reveal these blessings, because He wants us to love Him and enjoy Him simply for who He is, not for what we can get from Him. And as He watches the steps of faith we take to follow after Him, without any thought of personal gain, He is pleased beyond measure. He longs for the day when He can declare that we are “good and faithful” servants, and finally pour out His lavish blessings. Oh, what a day of rejoicing it will be!

Yet, we don’t always trust Him. We ask to see the blessings first before we decide if we want to draw near. We want to first find out what we can receive before we would take a step of faith into the unknown.

And some students have related to us in precisely that way, watching from a distance to see what benefits we could possibly give them before they would extend friendship to us. That attitude breaks my heart. I have sometimes looked at a student with sadness and thought of Jesus’ heart wrenching lamentation – “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…how often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!”

I’ve also come to understand that I cannot give generously to the person who is after the blessing, for it would only corrupt his character further. And so, the blessing passes from the one who craves it, to one who is not moved by it.

Perhaps that is simply how it works in God’s kingdom. Those who pursue the blessing only will not find it. But those who pursue God in spirit and truth will find God, and also discover His great blessings according to His perfect timing.