Ask and it will be given to you
Yokoyama Taikan is said to be the pinnacle of Japanese painting artists. One day, a young artist visited him and said “an artist like you has no worries about patronage, so you may research freely. However, a person like I have children and a wife to look after. The life is hard, and I have no time. Also, I am powerless. What should I do?” Yokoyama Taikan answered to him “what are you talking about? You are not powerless. You are just not serious enough. When a fire starts in a house, even a weak wife would lift a chest of drawers to carry it out of the house. If you become serious, you will have power. Don’t be subservient by using a lack of power as your excuse.”
When things don’t go well as we planned, we make excuses by saying “this is the cause, so things didn’t go well.” But, coming up with excuses will not produce anything positive. Instead, let us listen from the Bible. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:1)”
There are many things which we can not have, yet there are many other things which we could have, only if we asked for. The Covid-19 let us down, yet the State of emergency has been lifted now. So, let us be positive, and start asking. Especially, we would like to ask love, peace, and power of God.
God bless you all.
Senior Pastor Masao Nakanishi
