Great Hope For Malaysia Through A Spirit of Thanksgiving

Dr. Farish Ahmad Noor, a Malaysian political scientist and historian and presently a Senior Fellow at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, recently expressed his doubts and concerns about the future of Malaysia as a nation in this article A Cold Look At The State Of Malaysia Today.

My fellow Malaysians,

Much as I empathise with Dr Farish Noor's pessimism based on the present facts (corruption in high places, attacks on church buildings, political and religious contentions of the lowest sort, etc) , I urge all Malaysians to look beyond the facts which are symptoms of a greater struggle, an inner spiritual conflict that Malaysia is going through.

If you can see that the nation is in birth pangs to give birth to a new Malaysia (be it in 2012, 2015 or 2020), then you may be filled with hope and joy.

Don't allow the immature and narrow politics to blur your vision of what God has destined for this nation.

In God's eyes, the future is eternal and He already knows the choices we have to make. One road leads to ruin and the other leads to harmony and glory. But if we Malaysians take the wrong road, the nation will have to go through a more painful lesson before she gets back to the right road.

Whatever road we take at the crossroads, in the end, God's final destiny and will for Malaysia will be achieved.

The choice of how we wish to arrive at the truth depends on us (citizens and politicians alike), through the valley of darkness or through reason, love and wise counsel.

And the secret to overcoming the negative spirit of hopelessness and despair that has arisen from the political, social and economic disintegration of the nation in recent months is a spirit of thanksgiving. Thank God for good health, for our families, for the food and the earth that He has given us to live and share among ourselves.

According Pastor Peter Tan, an attitude of thanksgiving in our words and actions has a major impact on the spiritual forces that drive a nation. This is an excerpt from his online book Prosperity Through Grace.

"We are the custodians of the New Testament flow of grace; we should be as willing as God to bestow unconditional love and grace towards all men. The manifold wisdom of God of this dispensation of grace is to be manifested through the church (Ephesians 3:2, 8-10).

The devil will seek to make us ungrateful for our country, our leaders, our fellow countrymen, our world so that our prayers for them become ineffective. We should endeavour through thick and thin to have a grateful thankful heart for everyone around us. For the atmosphere and attitude of thanksgiving is essential for the working of the power of the Holy Spirit.

Be thankful for your spouse, your family, your children. Don’t let the enemy make you an ungrateful person and hinder your prayers for your own loved ones. The seeds of divorce are found in the attitude of ungratefulness and the lack of thanksgiving. A strong loving marriage is built upon the foundations of thanksgiving and love. Always be thankful for your leaders, your country and your fellow countrymen. For you release the grace of God (and the power
of God) upon their lives when you hold them before God with thanksgiving in your prayers."

(Note: By "new Malaysia", I do not mean to say I support a change in government to PR or BN. Politics will always be subservient to a nation's spiritual quest for truth.)