A Simple Story

Not sure if you remembered that I was reading a book called “Grace Awakening” by Charles R. Swindoll previously. I had finished it more than a month ago, yet there are several pages in the book that I left a folded little corner, that when time is appropriate I hope I can write about it. The book has left a deep impression on me, of great value that I believe I would always find it useful now and in future.

There is this little story I read in the book. A prominent artist went to his daughter’s house for tea. His little granddaughter misbehaved and was made to stand in a corner with her face facing the wall. The grandfather did not interfere with her discipline, but the next day, he arrived with his painting equipment, and painted a kitten chasing its tail, lambs in the field, goldfish swimming on the wall. This was in case she was punished again in future, she would have something to look at. This is just a very weak demonstration of our Papa God’s gracious nature, He may discipline us, but He never turns His back on us, and He certainly has something beautiful in store for us, even when times seem difficult, because of our own doings, He will still cause everything to be beautiful.

This reminded me of another very small account that happened today, and may still happen time and again in future. I had a little homework to do today, that is, to visit a few showflats to do some research for my work, and my good friend had kindly accompanied me and offered me lifts to all the destinations I had planned. In the midst of the visit, perhaps there was a tiny almost unnoticeable disagreement, about our individual viewpoints towards design, etc. (We had very scholarly discussion when together most of the time….) Perhaps a very, very short moment of unease was felt. Today, while I picked up the same book I quoted the story above, I flipped through the folded pages, I noted another area that moved me tremendously the last time I read it, “even the godly will sometimes disagree….I soon discovered that there were not only various opinions on the same subject, but that God has the audacity to bless those who disagreed with me….God reserves the right to use people who disagree with me”, but the most significant passage was “God is not nearly so narrow as many of His people are. I find that God is much easier to live with than most of His followers…far more tolerant, certainly full of more grace and forgiveness than all of us are.” And suddenly I was reminded again, in many disagreements each side is also valid, and let us agreed to disagreed.

I learnt a lot through the years. I used to be so stubborn, unwilling to hear the other side of the story, insisting on the fact that I must always be right, though I may still be right, the other party may not be wrong either. I could still remember those days when my friends try to show me the beautiful redemptive work of Christ to me, and how I would argue with them, even to the extent of challenging them with extreme difficult questions, holding on to the fact that I knew and read the bible before, to find questionable stories and events to “laugh” and even question them. Yet who is to believe that several years down the road, I would be standing in their situation facing people of the same sort as I am.

In fact, today, I sort of stumble as to what to write, wanting to actually write my views on the different approach to design (I would still discuss this very dry topic one day in future, as it is getting more and more interesting as I discovered in the bible how Papa God approaches design). But now, I ended up almost writing a book review, sharing some precious values that I hold dearly in my heart these days, and yes, when I meet people I may disagree at work etc, I know that at the end of the day, we are still friends, work is just work, and yes, I am still not there yet, but I know I am in His hand, imitating my Shepherd, indeed He is more gracious and forgiving than most of His followers!