2020 08 10
作者 Article by: Billy Ng
從三月中安省頒布緊急狀態至今,已有五個月了,回顧這段期間,我們學習了什麼呢?也希望可以從中在靈裡有所成長。第一樣想起的是等候!在疾情初期,每天在家等候各級政府宣佈確診數字、新的政府政策、新的規例等等;等候何時可出外,買日用品食物要排隊等候;網上訂購又要等候;就連返回公司都要等候批准。同時我們在等候,上帝回應我們的禱告。
到了六月,我們已習慣凡事等候,天氣回暖,第二樣想起的是忍耐。忍耐美好的天氣下,不能外出,更不用談旅遊;忍耐不能與親友見面;忍耐疫情還未過去,每天還在家中工作。忍耐是考驗信心的重要一課,我們也在學習耐心禱告。
八月中了,夏季快將完結,過了等候、過了忍耐,只有盼望。盼望民眾遵守抗疫指引;盼望生活重回正軌;盼望疫苗早日出現。事實上,等候、忍耐多是由外在環境因素影響,我們未必能夠控制的 。但是心存盼望是由自己心態而生,由自我選擇而來。
使徒保羅說:「在指望中要喜樂;在患難中要忍耐;禱告要恆切。」(羅馬書12:12) 盼望我們透過恆切的禱告,耐心的等候,信心的忍耐,共同經歷上帝的喜樂、恩典和愛。
It has been five months since Ontario declared the state of emergency in March. If we look back, what have we learned? We should also hope to grow in His Spirit. The first thing we learnt was “waiting”! In the early stage of the pandemic, I waited at home daily for all levels of government to announce the number of confirmed cases, any new government policies, new by-laws, etc.; when we went out, we all lined up waiting to buy groceries; we were waiting for online orders to be delivered; even if I wanted to step in my office, I had to wait for my approval. At the same time, we were waiting for God to answer our prayers.
By June, we had been used to waiting for everything. Since we had a warm and nice summer, the second thing we learnt was “patience”. When we weren't able to go out on such a beautiful summer day, let alone travel abroad, we needed to be patient; we had to stay patient not being able to meet our relatives and friends; and be patient working at home during the pandemic. Patience is such an important lesson to testify our faith. We learnt to pray patiently.
It's mid-August, and the summer is about to end. After "waiting" and "patience", there is only “hope”. We hope that we all continue to abide by the public health and safety guidelines; we hope that our daily lives will soon be back to a better normal; and hope that a vaccine will appear soon. In fact, waiting and patience are mostly affected by external environmental factors. Sometimes, they are uncontrollable. But hope comes from one's own mentality. Hope is something we choose to have.
Paul, the apostle said: " Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer." (Romans 12:12) I hope we can experience God together through our persevering prayer, patient waiting, and faithful patience. We believe God’s Joy, Grace and Love will be always with us.