40 Days - How To Use
What can a man do given 40 days of time?
Moses communed with the LORD for 40 days on the top of the mountain and returned thereafter with the tablets of Ten Commandments in his hands (Exodus 24:18). After he broke the first tablets during the Golden Calf incident, he went up to the mountain for another 40 days to extinguish the Lord’s anger and get the second set of tablets (Exodus 34:28).
After being strengthened by the food sent to him by an angel, Elijah travelled for 40 days to the mount Horeb, the mountain of God, where he met God not in the wind, not in the earthquake and not in the fire, but in a gentle whisper. Afterwards, he called Elisha to succeed him as a prophet (1 Kings 19).
Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert in preparation for His ministry. During this time He confronted the three temptations of the devil and successfully conquered them. After His ressurection, He spent another 40 days to show Himself and appear to many of His disciples to teach them about the kingdom of God and prepare them to spread the Gospel (thus begins the Acts of the Apostles).
What did I do in the last 40 days?
After giving a testimony in front of the congregation during the Easter Sunday on March 23rd (where I shared a condensed version of my previous articles, “What Could I Do When The Lord Passed By?” and “Do I Know You?”), I fell back from the light and spent my days in the darkness. No more prayers, no more times of devotions. Only anguish and hate towards others that remains in me, devoid of all love and peace within. No more connection with the Lord, no more conversations. There is only me and my pile of work that never seems to end, occupying my time and my worry as each day passed by.
This will have to change tomorrow, when once again we will be remembering the Ascension of Jesus. Let my spirit also ascend once more to honor and glorify the Lord. I sensed that my community in CMC has also lost the flame, as the hordes of assignments and exams has led to less meetings and less commitment of continuity and unity. I plan to take some lessons from CMC’s “Faith Project” such as having a prayer chain in the community. As most of us use StarOne with call rates of Rp 19/minute this shouldn’t be hard to do as long as the commitment is there.
I must begin to find my place in this community and make it grow, no longer being only an observer but now starting to take part in its growth. For too long have I remained stagnant, now I must move on with faith and willingness to obey and serve the Lord’s wishes. I must start to give new ideas and new plans to make it grow. I pray to the Lord that this community will regain its strength and commitment to once again fervently serve the Lord. This is my commitment to you, oh God, please let me be Your salt and light in this place, be a candle that shines in the dark whenever the light starts to fade away and the darkness comes to take its place.
