CityLight Church

Our oldest son turned 16 this week and it is interesting to reflect back on how fast time has passed. I remember the day he was born, his proud Uncle brought in a toy basketball and was very excited at the fact that already, at one day old, he could “palm the ball”. Yes, even at that age it was a sure sign of things to come…
It’s amazing though how fast time progresses and how quickly our kids want to grow up and be released as an adult so that they can make their mark on the world, but along the way there are things that are determined for them, because they are just not ready to handle them any earlier. At one day old, our kids aren’t ready to walk, talk and play, let alone go to school, do exams, drive a car, vote, or get married. But gradually, as we get older, we are released to do more and more things in life. Now that he is 16, our son has graduated through different stages of life, and is now at the stage where he can begin leaning how to drive a car, but there are other learning stages of his life that are still some time away.
Have you ever noticed that God does the same thing for us? Can you imagine what it would be like if on the day we said “yes” to making Him Lord of our lives He was to turn around and say, “Right! Now I need you to preach, lead worship on Sundays, teach the Sunday school kids, heal the sick, travel all over the world and get people saved wherever you go not to mention…” (and he keeps on going).
God doesn’t expect us to be perfect and mature in a day. He takes us on a journey, day by day, and assigns specific things (not everything) for us to do. There will be lessons we learn that are fun, some are boring, some will no doubt be painful, but they are all lessons that He will bring us through so that we can grow into maturity to serve Him with effectiveness.
Psalm 37:4-5 says, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give (or assign to) you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass".
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
God has an amazing plan and timeline for each of us that He works to. Trust Him. He knows what He is doing.
Have an fantastic God-directed week!
Adrian Nyhuis     

Last week at the Outpouring Hobart meetings, a young lady passed away after a heart attack. We were grateful to hear that she had only just committed her life to Christ, but at the same time upset to hear that someone so young should suddenly pass away.  Again this week we were saddened to hear that Mrs Hoogenhout, passed away, and at the same time we also received notice that Robyn’s Grandfather who is 98 years old only has a couple of days to live.
Unfortunately, we cannot escape the fact that dying is a part of living. We can easily think that we are  invincible and that we will live forever, but the truth of the matter is that we do not know when the day will come for us to stand before our Maker, or what the circumstances will be to cause that to happen.
The topic of death can be a morbid one, and people are often unwilling to talk about it for that reason but because of the uncertainty of it we need to know where we stand before God every day.
Robert Fulgrum once told a story of a university doctor who was once asked “What Is The Meaning of Life?” "Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into a leather billfold and brought out a very small, round mirror, about the size of a quarter. And what he said went like this:
“When I was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place.
"I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept only the largest piece. This one. And by scratching it on a stone, I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine - in deep holes and crevices and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find.
"I kept the little mirror, and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child's game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of the light. But light - truth, understanding, and knowledge - is there, and it will only shine in dark places if I reflect it.
"I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have, I can reflect light into the dark places of this world - into the black places in the hearts of men - and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. That is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life."
The Apostle Paul had an motto that governed his life. He said, “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.  Phil 1:21. He lived to reflect Christ to everyone he came in contact with. What is the meaning of your life? Where would you go if today was your ‘day’.    
Adrian Nyhuis