How did your year-end celebration go? I had an unusual year-end in 2022.

In mid-October, I had my personal encounter with Covid. In late November, I was diagnosed with a severe case of sinus infection. Today, on 9 January, my doctor has just ordered a CAT scan to further probe why the infection has lingered on with periodic breathlessness.

In December, I spent a month with my children in their place in Los Angeles (LA). I arrived in LA on 8 December and immediately was in contact with the A&E because of severe breathlessness. On 30 December, my son caught the new variant of Covid and we took care of him. And so, for me, 2022 did not end with a normal “R&R” (relax and refresh). It was an unusual “R&R” – “recuperation and recovery”.

In this period of my “recuperation”, I reviewed my spiritual journal for 2022. The one “word” that the Lord gave me throughout 2022 repeatedly was “resilience”. The biblical equivalent would be “perseverance” or “pressing on”. We usually feel that we need to recuperate in order to press on. But the Lord reminded me in 2022 that the reverse is true – our determination to press on is crucial to our recuperation process.

One of the most impactful sermons I heard in 2022 was preached by Dr Ayan Murry on Matthew 14:22-33. The passage is a familiar one of Jesus walking on water and meeting the disciples in the midst of the storm.

Dr Murry creatively contrasted Peter who “pressed on” into the storm (to follow Jesus) with the other disciples who “stayed on” in the boat.

Most of us, like the disciples, prefer to hide in the boat. We see it as a haven of refuge and a place for recuperation. We believe that there will always be time to follow Jesus but now let us recover from the storms of our lives first.

In Mt 14, only Peter prioritised the thrill of “pressing on” over the safety of recovery. He immediately obeyed Jesus and marched into the storm. Most of us focused on the failure of Peter as he started sinking into the waves. But we missed the main point. Of all the disciples, only Peter pressed on immediately; and only Peter experienced the thrill that goes beyond recovery to personally encounter the Lord of the storm. Eventually, Peter became the first disciple to confess Jesus as Lord. It is an object lesson of the importance of “pressing on” in a storm.

I wonder what your circumstances are as you travel into the unknowns of 2023. Are you wrestling with health issues? Or is it finances and career struggles? Or maybe there is a tempest in your family life? In light of that, what are your new year’s resolutions? May I suggest that one key resolution is to replace the desperate search for recovery with a relentless determination to press on in the midst of the storm. In making this resolution, you will experience not only the balm of recovery but the exhilaration of a spirit infused courageous life.

In line with this theme of “resilience over recovery”, we have the pleasure of inviting Dr J Taylor to be our speaker for the Chinese BTS Lectures on 11 March. His message title – “Don’t Short Change Life” – in this challenging terrain, seize the higher ground and thrive! Please click on the link for registration.

Rev Peter Lin
President