The Lamp Shade
Notes
Transcript
Good morning…
Thank you for giving me the chance to be with you this morning and sharing God's word with you, on your year-end school planning day…
Needless to say, this is so different from the last time I did this, 2 years ago in the HomeTeam NS Clubhouse…
Instead of being with you physically, I'm talking to a camera…
This has become such a familiar drill…
you can see me and I can't see you…
And I'm using my computer to do the recording for today's session…
And because I've done so many recordings on the computer, the ritual has become so very familiar…
And one of the things I always to is to turn on the gooseneck table lamp on my desk…
I didn't buy this lamp to do recordings… but more to illuminate my work area when I'm working…
But ever since I needed to do recordings,
I found that it was useful to turn the lamp towards my face so that my face wouldn't appear too dark on the video…
I figured that since I already have such a black face (well, at least that's what my wife tells me),
I don't need to appear even blacker on the video…
This lamp does its work very well, but to have the lamp shining on your face is not a very pleasant experience…
So, this morning, when I'm preparing for today's devotion, when I turned on my lamp…
Something occurred to me… hey… I'm not doing any recording… at least not yet…
And because of that, I don't need that lamp pointing at my face…
I didn't need to have that harsh light in my eyes, while I'm preparing the devotion and I could enjoy the luxury of having that lamp shade turned down towards my desk…
To shield my eyes from the bright light…
So that's what I did…
And as I did that, I was reminded of the scriptures from Isaiah 4:5-6 in which I have three thoughts that I wish to share with you this morning,
So let us now listen to the word of the Lord…
Isaiah 4:5–6 (NIV)
5 Then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy. 6 It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.
The first image I want to pick up from this passage is that of Mount Zion…
And this place is significant because Mount Zion is the traditional place in our Christian heritage in which the Lord often met his people…
And it is also the place at which the temple was built…
And it's also the place in which the laws also known as the 10 commandments were given to his people,
And one of those laws, the 4th commandment is telling us to "remember the Sabbath day"…
In other words, it is a commandment to tell us to take on a pattern of work and rest…
And during that Sabbath Day, the people of God were reminded to refresh themselves…
Recharge themselves and to rejuvenate themselves…
And what better way to recharge themselves, was to go back to the presence of the Lord,
Commune with Him and to draw strength from the source of life himself…
And the application I would like draw from this passage is this…
That in a few weeks time, as you end the school year,
I hope you are able to find some way in which you are able to relax, recharge, rejuvenate and be refreshed…
For the Israelites, it was where the temple was… Mount Zion…
Which was more than a place of worship, it was a community hub as well…
Other than worshipping God, it was also where people interacted with one another, encouraged one another, and celebrated life with one another…
That was how they were able to recharge and refresh one another…
For you, it may take a different form…
For some of you it may be finally not needing to wake up so early in the mornings and sleep in…
For others, it may be café hoping…
For others, it may be using those tourism vouchers given by our government to go on staycations, going to the local attractions etc…
Do what you need to do…
Enjoy yourselves… you had a very busy, unusual and challenging year…
You deserve the break… I pray you have a wonderful and relaxing year end…
The second image here is that of the Lord being a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night…
And what this alludes to is the exodus story in which the people of Israel were led all the way from Egypt through the wilderness and finally to the promised land…
And the application for you is this…
That even as you plan for 2021,
Be assured that the Lord is here leading the way,
And just like how the Israelites eventually reached the promised land, likewise you would reach the goal that the Lord had placed upon PLMGS…
And even though it feels many times like you're driving just with headlights in the middle of the night without any streetlamps
Where you can just see the road immediately ahead of you that is illuminated by the headlights,
It is enough to show you where you need to go…
Just like the table lamp in my room where it is enough to illuminate the space on my desk where I need to see, to do my work, it is enough…
So don't be anxious or worried…
God is here… God is enough…
God is enough for you in this season…
The third image I would like to pick up from the passage this morning is that of the Lord being a shelter and shade from the heat of the day…
To understand this portion a little better, you would need to remember that the Israelites at that point of time were not so fortunate as us, having modern amenities and infrastructure…
And because of that, they were pretty much beholden to the forces of nature…
And the ailments associated with heat from the scorching sun or having hypothermia in the cold of the night was very real…
In the more extreme cases, it may even cause death…
And what's more, the people of the surrounding nations tended to practice animism, in which they ascribe misfortunate with the works of dark forces that were manipulating the forces of nature…
So, in this portion in which God was described as to the people, a shelter and shade from the forces of nature,
The prophet Isaiah was telling them that the Lord will watch their step and protect them from things around them, physical, spiritual etc…
Keeping them on the right path…
Just like the lamp shade protects my eyes from the harsh light of my table lamp when I don't need to do recordings, the Lord will be a shield for you, protecting you from the harshness of the world…
And I want to pray for you, friends, for God to do exactly that…
For God's protection upon you, whether you're at work,
Serving in PLMGS, or at play…
And I would do that in a moments time…
But before I do that, I would once again like to thank you for your great service you are rendering to God and to the students here in PLMGS…
I thank God for everyone of you and am so appreciative for the wonderful work you had been doing all these while… especially in the light of this pandemic…
Adapting to changes without complain (at least I didn't hear any)…
And rising up to the occasion time and time again…
On behalf of all the chaplains, thank you…
Let us pray…
Heavenly father, we thank you for the lovely principle, school leaders, teachers and staff here in PLMGS…
Thank you for their acts of love and sacrifice and willingness to go the extra mile time and time again…
We pray for your leading upon them as they plan for the year 2021, showing them the direction to take and the plans to put into place, for your protection upon them even as they work and play and for them all to have a restful time with you when the works for the year had been completed, and may you be pleased with the works of their hands…
And friends, even as you continue the rest of the day,
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you,
This day now and forever more… amen…
God bless and have a wonderful planning session!