Wang Kwang Yu and Wang Lee Chien
Kwang Yu and Lee Chien are the only couple going through MAP (Mentoring Aligning Process) together. Over the Silent Retreat weekend from 7 to 9 January, the couple heard God inviting them to realign to Him, His Word, His will and His ways in this new year.
At a group devotion session, Kwang Yu picked a card showing an image of a car with its bonnet up and engine on fire burning.
He shared that the immediate thought that came to him was that he was overworked, burnout, stressed and dilapidated which led to frustration, rage and angry. Upon further reflections, he heard what God was telling him:
“Depend upon Jesus solely, do not strive on your own strength but thrive under the wing of the Lord, Christ Jesus. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). Go in faith and in full confidence as David did in his declaration to Goliath, “For the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give your enemy into your hands” (1 Samuel 17:47).”
God also directed him to 2 Chronicles 20:15, while King Jehoshaphat was facing his enemy, God sent a prophet to tell him, “For the battle is not yours, but God’s.”
Kwang Yu recalled what Henson wrote in his book Alignment Check: If you have been reminded of God’s instructions, but have not yet moved on them, then you must respond accordingly. The Word of God gives us inspiration but it must never be at the expense of interpretation, we get impression and too easily ignore the instruction.
He knew that he must make the necessary adjustments and appropriate the activation words of praying, meditating, understanding, acting and following God’s ways. He knew clearly our Lord Jesus is asking him to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant (Jeremiah 1:10). To rid the old, which are unseen and deep down in one’s own mind and all that are established for one’s own pride and fancy, before He can mold and shape one for His purpose.
Kwang Yu shared, “Only if I am in Christ truly, the old will pass away and the new is here (2 Corinthians 5:17). I was assured that He is with me in my struggles and torments in correcting my misalignment and He is with me in refinement and empowerment (Jeremiah 31:28). I thank the Lord our God for placing me in these Alignment Check sessions and it is His divine purpose for me to go through the awakening, alignment and refinement process (uproot, tear down, destroy, overthrow) and to be empowered to plant and build His kingdom assignment He is preparing for me.”
Lee Chien, too, heard the Lord speak to her through Isaiah 43:18-19: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” says the Lord.”
God impressed on her that this is the year that He is going to shape and help her to accomplish the purpose and plan in His heart for her. God has made clear to her a need for realignment and total surrender to Him, His ways, HIs strength, His wisdom, His strategy and His timing.
Two weeks after receiving Isaiah 43:18-19, Lee Chien heard God asking her a question: ‘Lee Chien, what do you see?’
She asked Him in return, ‘Lord, what do You want me to see?’
Then she recalled the same question God asked Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:11: “Moreover the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”
She decided to look up the meaning of the almond tree and discovered that God uses the almond tree as a symbol of His watchfulness. He will watch over His word to see it being fulfilled.
“As I put the two together,” Lee Chien testified, “it was such a great assurance and encouragement that His presence is constantly with me, and that He sees no limit in me, I can have what I believe, I can believe what I see, if only I can perceive it by faith. When God gives the assignment, He will provide and equip.”
Both Kwang Yu and Lee Chien can take courage that even as we keep aligning to God, while we face challenges, we can be assured that the battle is not ours but His. At the same time, we are empowered when we embrace the way of weakness. When we align with His upside-down kingdom perspective, God’s power is released and revealed when we obey through our kingdom assignments.