Jin Seop

I know it has been a while since I'd written. One indication is the email I got from the chatterbox people who have said that my comments tagboard might be expiring soon due to the lack of activity on it. But these past few weeks I've experienced a bit so I thought I'd share some of my thoughts and reflections with you.

Jin Seop -- as the title of this entry goes -- is one of the brothers in church (Berkland Baptist Church - New York). I'd still say IS, although he passed away on Thursday morning. I first heard the news when Peter came over to show me how to work the game show program that we had planned to play on Saturday for the Spring Retreat. And today, at the prayer meeting centred around Jin Seop's passing, we heard the details. He was 23 years old. He had complained of a headache on Wednesday night, but otherwise was still fine, emailing and calling friends. On Thursday morning he woke up, and was still fine, and emailed his cousin. Then he went to rest more, still complaining about the headache. He never woke up. His family found him in his bedroom and discovered that he had stopped breathing. They sent him to the hospital but it was too late to resuscitate him by then.

I didn't know him personally, so I wasn't as emotionally affected by his passing as were others in church who had known him and known him well. He accepted Christ as his Lord and Saviour just one month before. Even though he had grown up in a Christian family, it was in his 23rd year that he decided to realise the faith for himself. And I'm glad he did. Because now he's enjoying life everlasting with our Lord.

Pastor Daniel's message tonight impacted me, even though the death, tragic as it was, did not. Pastor spoke from James 4:13-17. But I'd just like to highlight verses 13 to 15.

"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit'; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.'" (NKJV)

Many people's reactions to Jin Seop's passing was one of pity. They lamented the fact that he had "his whole life ahead of him". I myself am 23 years old this year. Do I have my "whole life ahead" of me? This passage reminded me once again, that the Lord truly is sovereign. And we cannot anticipate what will happen. Except trust in faith that ultimately He only wills the best for us. And this "best" may not equate to what we ourselves think in our minds is the "best" -- best schooling, best prosperity, best longevity, best career etc etc. Because truly no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no mind has ever conceived what the Lord has prepared for those who believe. We may plan and forecast our own futures in our heads. But ultimately we really have to seek His will first. And it is His grace, and by His grace alone, that sustains us, and even allowed us this life. So what are we to do with it?

As the Preacher in Ecclesiastes remarked, "All is vanity" (or all is meaningless). Man's duty is to fear the Lord and obey His commands. (Ecclesiastes 12:13) Such is true life. Such is how we find meaning in our lives which can explore its way through so many twists and turns toward so many different destinations.

And how do we obey His commands? By loving the Lord our God with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul and all our strength. And loving our neighbours as ourselves.

How many of us have gone through the past years searching or plotting our paths ahead? I know that for many of my friends, and certainly for me, our conversations are filled with thoughts of what we'll do in the future, what we'll achieve, what we might want for ourselves, and even for our loved ones. And yes my brothers and sisters in Christ would probably have at the back of our minds an unspoken "trust" in God's providence and promises. But at the very forefront of our hearts and minds, I think we have to appreciate what we mean when we surrender ourselves to God's sovereign will. This was certainly something I learned over the years especially in Cambridge. Life had gone too smoothly for me, I would say, up to and even during my time there, and here in New York. Praise God that He has kept me safe, throughout my ups and downs, whether I was faithful to Him or not. Praise God that His Grace does not depend on my own efforts, my own abilities, my own striving to obey Him. Praise God that His Grace has empowered me to search for Him and found the answers, and will continue to empower me to find Him whenever I lift my eyes towards Him. Praise God that He alone has preserved my life so that I may still have the chance to fulfil my only duty towards Him -- that is to seek Him and seek to understand His will and emulate His ways. We may have the ability to achieve a lot through our own efforts. But the mystery of life and death is held solely and firmly in God's hands. No matter how advanced our knowledge and technology, death is still something we have yet to grasp. Why did Jin Seop have to die such an unexplained and early death? We don't know. And when we see God face to face eventually, we might want to ask Him. But at the point it might not matter so much anymore.

Even though Jin Seop's earthly life has come to an abrupt end, his life and his death spoke a powerful message to all of us.

We who are still alive, let us praise God and seek His grace, so we can honour Him as sovereign Lord.