The Lord is my Keeper

Reach Reflection

By Lee Chyi Lam

When I reflect on the year 2022, one significant event happened to me on the last Thursday of the year. I thought I was going to become blind, and thank God that I did not, because He is my keeper.

I was doing a wooden craft on the day, and was trying to unscrew the lid of a tube of superglue. I had difficulty doing it, and was looking very closely at the superglue, with my glasses off. I then accidentally squirted the superglue into my right eye. I felt a sting in my eye. I screamed, and rushed to the bathroom. I turned on the cold water tap, lowered my head, and forced my eyelid open with my fingers, to allow the running water to wash through my right eye.

During the time, I was very scared, and had the worst thought in my mind. I prayed fervently, asking God not to allow me to turn blind,

Instinctively, I bargained with God, I told God that He could take away other things in my life, but not my eyesight.

After what seemed like a very long time, I turned the tap off, and opened my eye. I looked through my right eye, then my left eye, they were equally blurred, which was a good sign, as I did not have my glasses on. When I put on my glasses, I could see clearly. Praise the Lord!

I then rang the local optometry to check if the optometrist would be able to check my eye to ensure that no residual superglue was on my eye. I was told to go in without an appointment. The optometrist looked into my right eye with a lit lamp, and told me that there was no glue on my eye itself, but some on my eyelashes and eyelid. He told me that I should be able to wash them off in the shower in the next few days.

Reach Reflection

For the next few days, I had mild eye infection and woke up with sticky right eye, but by New Year Day 2023, it was completely healed.

When I reflect on this incident, it is thought-provoking to me that at that moment of “crisis”, I was ready to trade something I thought was important to me for my eyesight. I was willing for God to take away something I had held on for so long in my life, for my eyesight, which I had taken for granted all my life. Oftentimes we hold on to something that we thought is important, but with a different perspective, it is not that important after all.

On the other hand, something that is truly important, that we do not want to live without, we take it for granted, and receive it as a matter of fact, without gratitude. How shortsighted our human eyes are, and how limited our vision can be.

God is not done with me after that revelation.

The following week after the incident, I listened to Pastor David Pawson’s sermon, he shared the healing of the eye of his wife, from aggressive melanoma, and he quoted Psalm 121:

I lift up my eyes to the hills - from whence comes my help?

My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

He will not allow your foot to be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD is your keeper;

The LORD is your shade at your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;

He shall preserve your soul.

The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.

What is significant to me is that Ps. David Pawson taught that the word “keeper” in Hebrews in this psalm is the same word for “eyelid”. When the superglue was squirted into my eye, none of it was in my eye, because my eyelid had protected my eye. Similarly, God is my keeper, and He promised to protect me from all evil (or harm), to preserve my soul (to keep me from sinning), and to watch over everything I do. What promises these are! May we all lift up our eyes to the hills, and fix our eyes on Jesus.

Vietnamese Yellow Curry

Ingredients:

2kg chicken

2-3 carrots – cut into chunky pieces

3 potatoes – cut into chunky pieces

1 onion – cut into pieces

1 can coconut milk or cream

300g taro (optional but will enhance flavour)

– cut into pieces and fried

Marinade for the chicken:

1 tbsp minced lemongrass

1 tbsp minced shallot

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp yellow curry powder

Method:

By Ly Ly Quach

Serves 8-10 people

1 tbsp oil

5 stalks of lemongrass – cut into 10cm pieces and smashed

6-7 keffir lime leaves

1 tsp minced shallot

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp curry powder

1 L coconut water

1-1.5 L water

1. Marinate the chicken, for 2 hours or overnight.

2. Add 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan, then add lemongrass, keffir lime leaves, minced shallot, minced garlic and curry powder, with the chicken, and fry until chicken is slightly browned.

3. Add coconut water and water to cover the chicken, cook until boiled. Once boiled, simmer for 30 minutes.

4. Add carrot, potatoes, and coconut milk. Simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Add onion and taro (if used).

6. Cook for another 5 minutes or until tender.

7. Serve with noodles (Bun) or bread (Banh Mi).