Sabbath Rest

The last week has been admittedly stressful for the both of us with our school years beginning with meetings and orientations. The school retreat was overwhelming: there was so much to take in (most of it in Chinese) and a very different teaching pedagogue than I am used to. I was very down the first few days because I found out that I had to work some Saturdays. And then I found out that I won't even get off for Summer holidays until the 18th of July when our wedding is on the 30th. Mich and I had hoped that we would have a full month to hang out with friends in Vancouver and get ready for our day.

But today, God was so good to us. We went to church at Island ECC with Emily this morning and God quelled our anxiety about the upcoming school year and our transition here to HK. The pastor, Matt Dean (who looks so much like Mark Driscoll, it's nuts) preached about our purpose of resounding God's praises with our lives (Ps 117) and how often our lives become a mess when we lose perspective of this greater purpose. It was very powerful because I think both Mich and I have felt a little lost in terms of our purposes here in HK. I really felt God reassuring us of our journey here, especially to rest in the character of God. The Psalmist writes, "For His faithfulness is great towards us, and the truth of the Lord is everlasting." We are to rest in God's covenant love towards us and move forward in that love for Him, for others, and the nations. The holy God we worship is wholly worthy of our lives. A big God does indeed overshadow our minute trials.

Lately, I've been struggling with this idea of striving and doing, and I think God is teaching me a lot about my motives for working. Looking back on the last year, I have to say that my motives may not have been in the right place even for the purest of aims. I've been reading a book recently called "The Emotionally Healthy Church" by Peter Scazzero, and I find one line particularly intriguing. He writes, "You (the Christian) can be yourself because there is nothing left to prove." Our standing with God, past, present, or future, is never based on our merit before God. It is solely based on Christ's work. So he says, we can be free to risk, and love, and even fail, because in the eyes of the Father, we have been fully loved and accepted through Christ. What a freeing truth!

That is what I want to know and experience at the depth of my being. I think coming to this far away and strange place brings me face to face with this part of me that I've hidden away. Maybe deep down I'm still striving for my dad's approval and that A in math I could never get, or trying to better the competitor next to me. But there is always a reason to strive and achieve. There is always something to be earned.

What if there wasn't?


This morning mom, dad, and I rode our bikes towards the New Territories. Those two hours were a slice of heaven- when time just stood still for a moment, when all that really mattered were me, God, and the road. There were no thoughts of school, no worries about the wedding- just the wind in my face and the sea view in my sights. There is only the thought to enjoy the ride.

I want to rest in that. I want to rest in that and know that I'm OK with God.

new bike!

Mom and Dad in their matching gear.

oh yeah