Today was one of the strangest days of my life, but in a good way. All glory to God.
I took a cab to the office and was doing my quiet time and writing down notes in my prayer journal. Half-way through the ride, the cab-driver suddenly asked me: "Are you from COOS?" I said yes, I was from Church of Our Saviour. He then told me that he and his family worshipped at COOS and that he had seen me before in church services. We chatted until we reached my office, and he then said he wanted to sms a verse plus some words to me. Only the night before, I had messaged a friend about the difficulty I had in giving my hp number to acquaintances, much less total strangers. Obviously, God knew of this.Going back to the cab-driver, he smsed the verse Romans 1:12 three times to me. I checked the verse in my bible the minute I got out of the cab. The verse was "that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine". I read the verse to mean that I was to encourage people in their faith, and as God's encouragement to me to persevere in what I was doing.
When I reached the office, the same friend from the night before e-mailed me her response to some issues I had. I read her e-mail and in my reply to her, I said that I was so thankful that God placed sensible and well-grounded friends around me. Her responses quietened my spirit and settled my heart. And I could focus on my work. Thank you very much for your wise counsel, Tammy.
After work, I rushed to church because I was attending my first corporate prayer session since I fractured my ankle three months ago. The session started at 7.30pm. I stepped into the auditorium and realised that it was very empty. I looked out for my cellgroup leader and on spotting her, I walked towards her and sat down beside her. I asked her why tonight's prayer session was so poorly attended and her reply was: "It's still early and some people haven't turned up yet. Plus, tonight's prayer session is until 11pm." My jaw nearly dropped to the floor because I didn't know that the session was until 11pm and had eaten only a chicken pie for dinner at 5.30pm. And I realised why the ushers were handing out one bottle of mineral water to every person who came for the prayer session. I could almost hear my stomach growling.
The session started with praise and worship and immediately I realised how much I missed corporate prayer sessions. By the second song, I was in tears. This was the song, which moved me very much. I would have knelt down but for my ankle.
THIS IS OUR GOD
Your grace is enough
More than I need
At Your word
I will believe
I wait for You
Draw near again
Let Your Spirit make me new
I will fall at Your feet
I will fall at Your feet
And I will worship You here
Your presence in me
Jesus light the way
By the power of Your word
I am restored
I am redeemed
By Your Spirit I am free
Freely You gave it all for us
Surrendered Your life upon that cross
Great is the love
Poured out for all
This is our God
Lifted on high from death to life
Forever our God is glorified
Servant and King
Rescued the world
This is our God
The session proceeded and some of the verses that were highlighted spoke to me:
Proverbs 16:3 (ESV)
Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.
Deuteronomy 8:3 (ESV)
And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
Matthew 14:28-31 (ESV)
And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and(A) walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
Isaiah 43: 1-2 (ESV)
Israel’s Only Savior
But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
During one segment of the prayer session, I was sitting next to a couple and my senior pastor told us to pair up or pray in groups of three regarding the physical space for Christian worship in Singapore. The three of us had grouped together earlier to pray and so for this segment, the couple told me to lead the prayer. After I finished praying, the lady excitedly turned to me and said she saw a picture for me - it was of a cheongsam and the shoulder areas were very shiny and bright. She actually drew the picture for me and asked me if the picture meant anything to me. I shrugged my shoulders and said: "Uhm...don't know but I will ask God." A while later, they were about to leave when the lady turned to me and said: "You're Li Li, right? I've seen you before. And with regard to the picture, I think God has a new assignment for you." I could feel the hairs on my arms stand and I could only say: "huh..uhmm?!" With that, she smiled at me and they left.
When the prayer session ended at 11pm, I bumped into someone I knew from a church camp some years back and with whom I had kept in touch. She was hitching a ride from her cellgroup leader and I tagged along because we were going to a coffeeshop near Potong Pasir for supper. When we reached the coffeeshop, she told me to go order my food (dumplings in soup). When I had done so, she rushed to the famous barbequed chicken wing stall. She came back with a broad smile and said that we were extremely fortunate to get the last three chicken wings. We talked about her eight-month-old baby girl and how she was coping with motherhood, among other things.
After we finished our meal, we boarded a cab and I dropped her off at her home in Bishan. When we got into the cab, the driver said his meter was running a little behind time and that $1.40 should have been added to the bill because it was already past midnight. When my friend got off, she reminded me to pay the cab-driver an additional $1.40 at the end of my trip. Her comment led the cab-driver to say that she was a very nice lady. He then asked me whether we had just finished work. I told him that we had attended a church prayer meeting in Margaret Drive and had gone to Potong Pasir to have supper.
He suddenly opened up and asked if he could share his troubles with me. I replied "why not?" He then told me he was having a lot of problems with his wayward son, who had just come out of a reformative training centre in March after two years for being in a gang fight. Since March, his son had not been able to hold down a job and was constantly changing girlfriends and bringing them home. He said he really didn't know how to handle or manage his son, who was only 19, and always ended up scolding him. He talked about a few incidents and by the time I reached my home, he had just only finished what he wanted to tell me.
He then asked me what I thought of his situation but said that he wouldn't mind if I just alighted because I had already reached my destination. He then stopped the meter. I told him that it was okay and spent the next 15 mins to half an hour telling him what I thought in Mandarin, peppered with some English words.
I looked at everything from his son's perspective and told him what I felt the son might have been thinking or feeling about his situation and his family. In the end, the cab-driver looked at me, thanked me and said that my comments had given him some new ideas on how to relate to his son. I paid the fare and got out of the cab with a skip in my step.
When I reached my home, I decided to write this up and wondered if the rest of my life would be as strange and wonderful as this day had been. I'm waiting on God for an answer, and for the meaning behind the picture of the cheongsam with shiny shoulder areas.
