Devotion by Ian Chong (Pastoral Supervisor)
Glitches—a modern-day word that means “sudden, usually temporary malfunction or fault of equipment.” (Oxford Dictionary)
I picked the topic on glitches based on my own personal journey—amidst daily battles—to be more and more like Christ. I have found it helpful to have a mindset of acknowledging that every circumstance I face works to produce Christlikeness and the fruit of the Holy Spirit in me.
Dear friends, after receiving Christ into our hearts as our personal Lord and Saviour, we quickly realise that our walk with the Lord does not stop at salvation. We must allow the Holy Spirit to transform us to be more and more like Christ.
Now, along the way, some glitches may occur—such as, the manifestation of our old self, anger issues, finding it hard to love, and so on. Glitches occur when we neglect our own walk with the Lord and let busyness take up our attention. Sometimes, even something positive could be a glitch to distract us, such as a coveted project that takes up all our time that we have no time to seek the Lord. God’s will for every Christian is not to follow our flesh, but to be led by the Spirit as His sons and daughters.
We quickly realise that our character is refined over a lifetime. Matthew 5:48 calls us to “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Yet from time to time, we do find ourselves getting discouraged from all the glitches that occur in our journey to perfection and to be like our Father in Heaven. May we never quit in the face of frustration, but keep on walking and leaning on Him for strength and grace. Glitches are not all bad. We can choose allow them to bring us into a deeper reflection of God’s love and to know that truly we are more than conquerors in our walk with Christ.
To be fully converted is to let God lead us out of our old life and enter a new life in Christ. We need to embrace this transformation and not let our old self gain a foothold in this life that we have submitted to the Lord. Our body has now become the temple of God, and our actions are His extended arms and legs. As such, since we are still in this physical body, glitches will inevitably occur and when they do, we must fix our eyes on His purpose and surrender ever more to His leadings.
Hebrews 13:5 already gives us the assurance that God will never leave us nor forsake us, so we need not wallow in guilt and self-pity every time our flesh acts up. Rather, we are to dig deeper and allow sanctification to take place through our union and love for Him, cleansing us and making us stronger.
I would like to share two practices we can work on, so that when glitches happen, we will not be shaken and instead, take it a challenge to use them as a stepping stones for a deeper fellowship and appreciation of God’s unshakable love for us.
1) Solitude in God
Solitude does not mean withdrawing in silence out of antisocial sentiments; solitude means in our aloneness, offering a place to be in communion with God, to stand in God’s presence, not to guard time but simply be alone—alone in God’s company.
Because I am an early riser, I’ve made it a habit to spend time in solitude with the Lord every morning, especially since COVID-19 started. Through this, I begin to understand that it is not coming to Him with our needs; but just to be with Him—much like what A.W. Tozer said: “The man who would know God must give time to Him”.
It’s not just to think, talk and ask when alone with God, but most importantly, to LISTEN. Solitude is a place where we can hear the Voice that calls us His beloved and leads us to the next page of our adventure.
2) Our Helper, The Holy Spirit
No amount of emphasis is enough for every Christian to know that we already have the best Teacher, Guide, Helper within us. This journey before we enter eternity will be The Holy Spirit preparing us through every up and down, and through His guidance, we will go over and not under.
One of the most comforting verses is found in
John 16:7 – But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
Jesus Himself says that it’s good that He goes away! WHY? Because the Holy Spirit, our Advocator then will come inside us to help and guide us.
1 John 2:27 – As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit – just as it has taught you, remain in Him.
The Holy Spirit remains in us and teaches us to grow despite all the glitches that tend to discourage us. As we lament how weak and imperfect we are, we need to be especially aware that we are not without hope and the Hope that we have does not disappoint us. The Hope that we have is a loving God that is ever encouraging us to walk the journey and be a vessel to showcase the world of His goodness.
The world needs us, not as religious zealots but as vessel to show that despite all our imperfections, we can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us. The greatest joy is to be awaken in Him and cultivate all the fruits of the Holy Spirit amid the glitches.
Do not be weary and keep on keeping on in your journey to be more Christlike—till we enter eternity. May we continue daily in our silence and solitude in Him, always leaning and depending on the Holy Spirit!