IT IS FINISHED

How faithful my God is. For the past month.  I had been asking, waiting for Him to speak.  Certain things   had come to pass, which were not within my control.  A door of ministry  had closed unexpectedly; people had been hurt. I knew I myself needed healing and I needed God to confirm my moving on.  The release came from a least expected source - a foreign Pastor who prayed for me during a zoom prayer meeting gave me a word that this is a season of transition. 

At Christmas  I felt a very heavy burden; I just couldn't "flow" with all the celebration. Knowing the bible never stated the exact date of the birth of Jesus,   I couldn't "reconcile " the worship which was (correctly) all about Jesus, with  Christmas trees,  Santa hats, reindeer hair-bands and Merry Christmas songs . And I am very sure there are people who are not feeling particularly merry or happy.   I was wondering if perhaps it was time for me to just opt out quietly from the traditional practices  of  Christmas.  After all the research into the history of Christmas, reading so many "expert" opinions,  I was still no closer to deciding. Till God decided the issue for me. The Saturday following Christmas, after my sharing at the street ministry I serve in, a man came forward and pressed an angpow into my hand. I assumed he was a "newbie" from the street, as he had long hair and looked just like the rest of my street-friends. I  didn't want to accept it, but he insisted. I looked at the packet, it featured a snowman with a Merry Christmas greeting. I knew it was God's way of telling me,  He can use any and every occasion, He can use any and everything, even pagan things, to work for His good and His glory.  So I didn't have to fret about how the birth of Christ has been so "mixed-up" with man's traditions, even if I personally didn't subscribe to it. 

But I had a shock when I opened the angpow and found RM100. 3 hours later, I bumped into the man again as I was preaching another message in a street-church service elsewhere. It was only then I found out he is actually from a church in Melaka, visiting our work, because he had once hung out on the streets. I told him there was no need to give me such a generous gift; but he said he just felt he should. 100 speaks to me of a double portion 50x2, so to receive God's abundance is my blessing indeed.  

It has been some 5 months after the first renovation works on my house started.  Actually almost everything had been completed by early December.  The whole house had been painted inside out, bathrooms re-done totally,  upstairs flooring had all been replaced, leaking roof  repaired,  stairs patched up and outside porch re-surfaced. Full payment had been settled. But my contractor-friend/brother was so busy he simply left the remaining construction materials, equipment, tools and stuff neatly piled up on my verandah...to be collected "later." I was fine with that. In the meantime, I did a fair bit of DIY myself, with "left-overs"   I re-painted all the very rusty door and window grills in the house,  the back -fence and even the clothes-rack. Plus splashed varnish on the wooden doors and dining table-set.  But I have to admit I will never make it as a painter - my DIY was rather messy. Still, at least it got done, and the house looks pretty decent now. And I can declare, truly, finally it is finished. 

I also  bought a new washing-machine to replace the one I had been using for some  20 years . Actually the "old faithful"  could still work, except that the casing was literally 'cracking up'.  So I thought time to put it to rest. That was when the problem started. The new machine came with a ridiculously short connecting hose. I managed to find a long hose from the  old machine, which had been kept unused because it couldn't fit the tap. It could fit on the new machine; but the problem was with the position of the tap.  During the renovation, a leaking pipe had been repaired, but  now the tap had been shifted.  Which made it very difficult to connect and disconnect the hose . So of course I had to call my dear contractor again. He promised to drop by. 3 weeks down the line, I was still struggling with the hose every time I did the washing. 

Finally after several postponed dates, he turned up on the very last day of 2025 - 31st December,  and within 1/2 hour, fixed the problem tap in a most ingenuous  way. Instead of simply re-positioning it, he  added a new tap. I was most amused for now there were 2 taps connected together.  It was another of God's "just-in-time" moments for me. On the very last day of 2025, I get a new "gold" tap on top of my existing "silver" one. As I turned both on, water gushed out simultaneously, interestingly in different ways. I wondered what more "double portion" things God has prepared for me.  Water has always held a special significance for me, ever since I was told my Chinese name  means "little river." I was reminded of Jesus' declaration in John 7:38, that out of the bellies of those who believe, shall flow rivers of living water. 

Immediately thereafter the word of the Lord came to me: The silver and the gold is mine.  I checked the full context from 

Haggai 2:4-8 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’

Early in the morning of 1st Jan 2026, I cycled out to the nearby playground as is my daily routine.  

The unusual sight that greeted me made me laugh, as I knew what it meant. There was a big group of foreign workers wearing Alam Flora orange vests gathered together. I asked one what they were doing on a public  holiday. He said work, no holiday. God certainly has a sense of humour.  I observed how their grass-cutting equipment was all neatly laid-out on the ground, the supervisor was ticking off their names and giving instructions. I would be a fool if I didn't get the message....work, under command of the "Big Boss upstairs."

I felt so reassured, as I applied the Word to myself. Knowing that despite whatever shaking that's going to happen in my life or in the world  in the year/s ahead, I will just have to keep working whatever God gives me to work, for He is with me, His Holy Spirit is in our midst, and wherever place God puts me, He will give me peace. No need any other New Year greetings or blessings. Very Cukup already.