|
Testimonies
God is Love Part 4 of A Testimony by Vincent Chia, Senior Company
Executive 1 John 4:16 : “… God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” There is an old saying that our parents will always say to us: whenever we err, the punishment that comes is out of love, sort of a remedial. God is not different as His love for us also means that we can expect correction when we make mistakes. In my position as the sole in-country representative of my company in KL, I was given a lot of authority. I had never understood what it meant when it was said that, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” till then. I was tested time and time again till I felt sore. As I was given very high standards to achieve, I had set very high standards for my staff as well. We had to be different from our competitors, thus the level of service I expected of my staff had to be world class. I was very short fused and intolerant of minor mistakes. I even became intolerable and unbearable at some point in time. The crush came when 3 of the staff resigned within a short span of time (the total staff strength was 6). This incident made me reflect on the situation and I realized that I had gone about it in the wrong manner. I had not been asking for the Lord’s wisdom in managing the staff who were from a different environment that we were used to. I asked the Lord for His forgiveness and prayed earnestly for His blessings of wisdom. The Lord blessed me with a new team that worked harder and was a blessing to the property although at times there were some minor issues with some of them. At the time that I left the property to return to Singapore permanently, it was in good hands. By August 2002, my wife and I started discussing our return to Singapore for good. As my son would be attending kindergarten the following year, we wanted him to start school in Singapore to prepare him for Primary 1. However, my job situation was unclear as I had a change of supervisors. Although my previous boss had given his approval for my return to Singapore at the end of 2002 when my contract would expire, my new supervisor indicated that there was no position available in Singapore. Even up to December 2002, there was no word from the company in Singapore. God again showed His love to me clearly. When I look back at the chain of events leading to my return to Singapore, I can see His hand clearly leading every step of the way. The Lord provided a good career opportunity in mid-December 2002 just when there seemed to be no way for me to return to Singapore with a job. By His grace, I was offered a senior management job in Singapore with another company. I could only return in late January 2003, about 6 weeks after my family left for Singapore. Those 6 weeks were spent meaningfully with the Lord’s word as my constant companion after office hours as my family was already in Singapore. Lessons Learnt Many valuable lessons were learnt in the two eventful years that I spent in KL. The most important lesson learnt is in trusting the Lord totally even though we may not know what is the next step He has planned for us. It is very difficult to trust that everything will turn out fine when the situation may seem oppressive and discouraging. But I can confidently say that when God is with us, we can overcome impossible odds. He demonstrates His faithfulness when we keep our faith with Him. Through all the experiences in KL, I finally understand clearly what 1 Corinthians 10:13 meant, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” Therefore it becomes clearer to me that when God teaches us gently, we should listen obediently instead of waiting for the lessons to become more painful before we really turn to Him. For those that are undergoing very painful and trying times, I would like to say that our God is Love. The school that my son was attending in KL did not manage to get a license to operate a kindergarten and it also shifted to a new location further away from our KL residence. Thus the Lord indeed guided us home at the right time. As for me, He has blessed me with a new job that is both challenging and a totally new experience. When we accepted Christ as our personal savior, He did not promise us a bed of roses. But indeed He will be our shepherd. Copyright By Author
|
