By Pastor Phil Beck
Good morning from Singapore! I am writing this from the beautiful Asian island referred to as the Lion City. My wife and I have spent the last two weeks here vacationing and doing ministry and being ministered to. Now it is only by the blessings of God that we are here because if it would have been totally up to me I would have never placed myself on an airplane for 21 straight hours. We had never been here or anywhere out of the states together and felt very comfortable with our lives as they were.
The thing is that when we decided to follow Jesus, we pretty much gave up the right to live comfortable and routine lives. If you read the scriptures at all, time after time God is inviting man to live in the unknown. I don’t know about you but the unknown really makes me uncomfortable. I am the kind of person who needs to know what is going to happen next week; I usually don’t handle surprises well. But, all we have to do is look at the father of the nations (Abraham) to know that God wants us to trust Him with our lives and that takes stepping out into the unknown.
Trying to prepare for this trip was very hard. When you are going to the unknown, you don’t have anything to draw from. Now we had left a place (Michigan) to come to a place where we didn’t know anyone (Pennsylvania) and that has turned out well. So we believed that we could handle meeting new people and let me tell you the people of Singapore are very friendly and so hospitable. Singapore is only 50 years old but it is one of the cleanest and safest places on the planet. And their public transportation is second to none.
We’ve also been to Vietnam, and there is nothing anyone could have told us that would have prepared us for what we experienced. All I can say is “sensory overload” — the moment our taxi pulled out of the airport parking lot the sights and sounds were very overwhelming. We took a lot of pictures but I don’t believe that they will even convey half of what we saw and felt.
The unknown is scary, can freeze you in your tracks. But the scriptures say, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” And I am sure that all of you reading this would like to please God. Let me share with you some insight from our trip to the unknown.
• Prayer.
You need those who love and care for you going into the throne room of grace on your behalf. We have had people from all over the states and even people in Singapore praying for us every step of the way. I can tell you those prayers have been felt by us and have been answered by our loving God who has blessed us beyond measure these past two weeks.
• Someone who has been there before.
What a blessing it has been this whole trip to have those who have been there and done that around us. From George, who I sat next to on our flight from New York to Hong Kong, to Rodney and Esther, our host family who graciously opened their home to us and showed us all the sights, sounds and tastes of Singapore.
It is like we have known them our whole lives. One I will never forget is “T.”
That is not her full name but I don’t think I can pronounce it so we just called her “T.” This Vietnamese young lady helped us the Sunday that we were there, with our taxi and shopping. She barely could speak English but she was of great help to us.
So as I conclude here from Singapore I challenge you to step into the unknown. Live by faith, not by sight. Be covered in prayer and seek out those who have been there and done that. My wife and I are so glad we did. For our God is an awesome God and He wants us to trust In Him. May you be blessed as you seek after Him and from that blessing may you bless others.
Phil Beck is pastor of Central Community Church, Pymatuning Township.
