I'm here - For such a time as this.

Have you ever wished that you were born earlier, say living during the time when Jesus walked the earth in human form, or during the days of Martin Luther, Wesley or William Booth? The past seems to be more glamorous and exciting.

When a person gets old there is the tendency to be nostalgic and long for the good old days. True we can learn much from the past, but to be frank they were not necessarily always good. I don't want to go back to the days when Singapore was under Japanese occupation when we did not know where our next meal was to come from or when a soldier might turn up to arrest one of our relatives.

There is a saying, "Dwell in the past and you will lose one eye. forget the past and you will lose both eyes." So, if we long for the past and keep wishing for the good old days, we would probably be partially blinded by our nostalgic dreams. And if we completely ignore the past and its lessons, we become totally blind.

Some of us might have wished we were born twenty years later. Come to think of it, if God had allowed me to be born 50 years later, I wouldn't have to study and do my homework by kerosene lamp or queue up for hours at a public stand pipe to get a bucket of water. By now I would be in my thirties, probably contending with my peers for positions in the company, or working till all hours trying to pay off my mortgage.

I am here today, because God willed it so "for such a time as this". I am here by Divine design and purpose and it is my daily prayer that I fulfil that purpose God has for me.

We used to sing in Sunday School days a lovely song written by Philip P Bliss.

Standing by a purpose true,
Heeding God's command,
Honour them the faithful few;
All hail to Daniel's band!

Dare to be a Daniel,
Dare to stand alone,
Dare to have a purpose firm,
And dare to make it known.