31. SWEET ARE THE USES OF ADVERSITY (JILTED, JOLTED, JUBILANT)

I thought my world had collapsed. Her letter was simply worded: “Please do not call or see me. It’s over, and let there be no hard feelings. ”

Our fathers were good friends. It was through her father’s visits that I got to know her. We lived in Batu Pahat, they in Johor Baru. It was during the Japanese occupation, in 1943. Whenever I passed through Johor Baru on the way to Singapore, I visited their home.

The Japanese surrendered in 1945. We returned to school in Singapore. Our friendship grew. In 1947 I began medical studies while she was in Standard Seven in the Methodist Girls’ School. Our friendship was in its fourth year and seemed to be going well.

But not altogether. She was Seventh Day Adventist, with deep family roots. I was Presbyterian with equally strong roots. Back in Batu Pahat, Mother was praying, as she prayed for each child. God heard her prayers, the answer was on the way. She never said a word to me, only to God.

“Can two walk together, except they be agreed? ” (Amos 3:3 ). God saved me from an unequal yoke ( 2 Cor 6:14 ). Thank God, she made the decision. I learned later that she took advice and married a fellow Adventist.

Did I also pray like Mother? The answer is yes, and the Lord answered my prayer as He answered Mother’s. It was a time of great conflict between “flesh and Spirit” (Roms 8 ), but thanks be unto God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, I look back with deep thanks to God for delivering me out of the trauma of disappointment. For days I was in a daze. My Second Brother noticed it and spoke to me: “Siang Hwa, why are you cast down? God will send you another and a better person. ” His words were comforting and prophetic. Shortly after, the Lord revealed His better choice for life.

The purpose of my sharing this event in my life is twofold: Firstly, to young people: “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass” (Ps 37:5 ). Secondly, trusting in Him, He can turn every disappointment into a blessing.

Today, more than ever before, we need to acknowledge God in our lives, particularly in the area of choosing a life-partner. Turn our minds back to the first couple, how God made Adam, and from one of his ribs, made a help meet for him (Gen 2 ).

God who gave us life will also provide us a helper, meet or suited to our needs. Let this basic truth guide all our young people in this most important life choice. As the saying goes: “Make haste slowly. ” Commit your ways to the Lord and He shall bring it to pass.

We can learn a good lesson from the story of Isaac. Being the only son of Sarah, he was naturally much attached and devoted to her. When Sarah died, Isaac was still single. He left the matter in the hands of father Abraham who commissioned his eldest servant to find a wife for him, saying, “... thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites... But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac” (Gen 24:3,4 ).

Thus commissioned, the godly servant prayed to the Lord: “O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham” (Gen 24:12 ). Today, more than ever before, young men and women need to learn to trust in the Lord and not to lean unto their own understanding (Prov 3:5 ).

By faith, Abraham’s chief servant undertook the mission for his master, and God granted him good success: he returned with Rebecca, a lovely bride for Isaac.

As for me, the bitter disappointment of 1947 turned out to be God’s better appointment for me. As I committed the matter to Him in prayer, God prepared a fellow medical student in the same class, Miss Tan Cheng Im, a godly lady who loved the Lord and the things of God with me from the very first, until this day, a most wonderful and rewarding life-journey now exceeding fifty years. How unsearchable are the ways of the Lord, and His wisdom past finding out.

My second message to readers young and old: Our God can turn every disappointment into a blessing beyond all expectation. I well recall the event of 1947 and the severe jolt it caused. My entire personality was shaken to its very core.

I asked the Lord, “What is Your will in my life? Some ten years have passed since I surrendered myself to serve You. What will You have me to do? ”

The answer came swiftly and simply: “Do your best in whatever you do. ” The verse 1 Corinthians 10:31 spoke to me: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. ”

This means: let me excel in my study to the glory of God. For students struggling with today’s demanding curriculum, God’s Word lends much encouragement. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil 4:13 ).

To Daniel (and his friends) who purposed in their heart to keep themselves pure and undefiled for God, “God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom... ” so that in the final examination they were ten times better than all the rest who took the same test (Dan 1:8 , 17 , 20 ).

If God did it for Daniel, will he not do it for me?

Being thus encouraged, I set my heart to the task. It was the firs tyear of the medical course. As mentioned earlier, sweet are the uses of adversity. My disappointment became God’s appointment, to put me on the path of great success.

Like Daniel, I purposed in my heart that I would not defile myself with the practices and customs of the world, but to keep myself wholly for the Lord. The subjects taught in the first medical year were Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. These were strange new fields of study, “But our God is able. ” The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

It was a year of hard discipline and sacrifice. Waiting on the Lord, and burning the midnight oil, with much, much prayer was the secret of success. No gain without pain! With God’s help, obstacles were overcome.

In the final examination, amazing, I obtained distinctions in Physics and Chemistry, a scholarship, and the silver medal for being top of the class.

Praise the Lord, He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think (Eph 3:20 ).