For My Princess

Come run into my arms, my princess
Hold me tight as only you can
Tell me all your dreams and wishes
My precious bundle of joy.

No one can make me laugh so much,
Nor weep with so much pain:
Your every pain is doubled in me,
Your every joy likewise.

I have great dreams for you my child
Oh yes and wishes too,
Of what a fine young thing you’ll be
Someday in someone’s eyes

Of how you’ll dance into
So many wonderful lives
As you with such little effort
Waltzed right into mine.

But more than all these earthly dreams
Is one pure heavenly one,
That you with all your heart will know
Jesus, the one true God.

For though you may have all you want
If Jesus you do not have,
Then my dear little one you don’t
Have anything at all.

So every day I ask the Lord
To speak to you with love,
And keep you close to Him forever,
Though you may choose to leave.

Hold tight to Him sweet Darling of mine
As you are holding on to me right now:
For though I may, perhaps, let go,
He never ever will.

Ananias and Jonah

Acts 9: 13

“‘Lord’, Ananias answered, ‘I have heard many reports about this man…’”

Many a times we, like Ananias, tell the Lord what He already knows, giving it as an excuse. Will not God have known about why Paul was there? In righteous anger, Ananias was gently reminding God about it! How many times has this happened to us? God knowing the end from the beginning is telling us something. But we, in our haste to be overly righteous, tell God what He already knows! It is time we checked ourselves before speaking to the Lord. It is good to be quick to obey – without questions. It is not our place to ask the Lord whether He really is sure about what He wants us to do. It is like God saying “Do this my son” and we reply with “Are you sure Lord???” It sounds so absurd!

The redeeming quality of Ananias is that as soon as God says “Go! This man is my chosen instrument…”, he obeys with no more questions. This is in stark contrast with what our Old Testament friend Jonah did! He did not even ask the Lord anything…he just ran away! It is infinitely better to be like Ananias, rather than like Jonah.

Another difference between Jonah and Ananias, is that whereas Jonah reacted with anger when the Lord chose to spare Nineveh, Ananias, as soon as Paul repents, calls him “brother”!

Jonah was a prophet

The voice of God Himself!

“Go” said the Lord, and he ran away

Away from God’s great will!

Ananias was a disciple

He listened to the voice of the Lord.

“Go” said the Lord, and “why oh Lord”

He asked, Questioning God’s great will.

Samuel was a little child

Who was woken up by the Lord

“Go” said the Lord and he went

Not a question came out of his mouth.

Be a child in the kingdom of God

Obey without a question

Better an Ananias than a Jonah,

But best be a Samuel!

Psalm 119: 33-37

“teach me oh Lord…Give me understanding…direct me…turn my heart…”

Teach: a teacher drills things into you. Especially at the kindergarten, and junior school levels, you are drilled into learning certain things like counting, the alphabet, the multiplication tables etc. But this drilling, although very redundant to us when we are learning, has the effect, that for the life of us, we will never forget the alphabet, or counting. Can anyone, who has had a basic education, ever say they don’t know how to count, or how to say A, B, C up to Z? It becomes a Habit.

Give understanding: At the kindergarten level, you are not required to understand many things. It is better to just assimilate things as they are brought your way. But you can’t keep learning by repetition, or getting things by-heart. As you grow older, you are required to understand concepts. We ourselves start asking questions, and the teacher listens to our questions, answers them, and helps us understand.

Direct: After school, no one will ever bother to worry about whether you understand anything they say. But really good lecturers and professors in college usually encourage us to learn for ourselves. When we do not understand certain things, instead of just giving us the answer to our questions, they direct us to the source of knowledge, the book, or a person, and our own research will then not only help us understand what we had a doubt in, but we will, in the process of reaching that understanding, also learn many more things. At this stage, the teacher becomes a facilitator. When we discover something for ourselves, there is a sense of achievement, and the advantage of something staying in our minds is more when we take the trouble to do research.

The Lord is like a teacher in our spiritual life. In our early stages of spirituality, He is a kindergarten teacher, who only gives us the basics. As we grow, we have more doubts, more questions, and He answers them for us. As we grow even more, He begins to let us discover for ourselves, what we do not understand. When the answer from God does not come as soon as we ask, it may be possible that God is treating us not like a child, but as a college graduate!

Turn: having said all this, the psalmist wants more. A teacher or professor will only go so far in our quest for knowledge. But our parents will MAKE us do things for our good. The psalmist doesn’t want God as a mere teacher. He wants Him as a parent, who when a child errs, will not be content with telling them it is wrong, but will actively make the child stop the wrong deed, and do what is right. That is why the psalmist wants the Lord to TURN his heart. Ask God to be your teacher. But also ask Him to be your father.