G6PD

I have always wanted to post my testimony of how God intervened in my life and I figure today would be excellent (after my previous post on "Do you believe in God?") hehe. :) By the way, I would to thank everyone that commented on that post. Thanks for giving me something to think about. ;)

OK. Now for my testimony.

I was diagnosed with G6PD (Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) deficiency at the age of 3. G6PD is an inherited disease, which has no cure. Sad but true. What this disease does is, it made me allergic to certain foods (chinese herbs and especially beans and it's products) And if I do eat bean-products, my reflex was to vomit. So naturally I was very thin and my parents had to take good care of what I eat. I wasn't exactly miserable, but my family then wasn't very well to do and my condition is not making things easier. I was told by my aunt that whenever I put a bean (especially those 'flat' beans) in my mouth, my dad will make me spit it out or in the case of me swallowing it... My dad will dig my throat to induce vomitting; before the bean reaches my stomach.

My parents were devout Catholics and I believe they always pray on my behalf, especially for my disease. Fast forward to when I was in Primary 4. It was the Lunar New Year again and we were also at one of our relative's house. Being the glutton that I am, my fingers sneakily inched towards those fava beans (kacang kuda) while my parents catch up with my relatives.

First bean. Swallowed. Yummy. Second bean. Swallowed. Yummy. Third bean. Swallowed. Yummy. Fourth bean. Swallowed. Busted! My dad saw what happened but this time there was no immediate throat-digging operation, rather he asked: "You are fine after eating all these beans?" And I replied; "Yeah." He look at me in a I-am-glad-my-son's-ok way. And as a safety precaution he told me to stop eating the beans. I complied and thought to myself; "Wow. I was lucky not to have vomitted..."

A few years after. I got sick (fever, I guess). So I went to the nearest doctor (instead of my family doctor) for treatment. After looking through my medical records...

Doctor : Hmm. I see you have G6PD?
Me : I had G6PD.
Doctor : What do you mean you had G6PD?
Me : Well, previously my family doctor said I was cured.
Doctor : But there is no cure for G6PD.
(Pause)
Hmm.. It must be a miracle then. Praise the Lord. *smile*

That was the first time I heard someone said; "Praise the Lord". :)

And it was then that I realised I was one of the blessed (as opposed to lucky) few that experience a - miracle.

Do you believe in God?

There are times in my life where I doubted the existence of God. These times of my life were when I was at my spiritual lowest. The reason to my doubting is non-intellectual, rather it is because of me not wanting to face certain issues in my life that needed correction... a.k.a. repentance. If there is God, then He is the one that I needed to be accountable to. I would not like to spend too many lines writing; why I believe in a Christian God rather than: say... the Greek gods, so I would need you guys to trust me that I really have strong arguments for it.

So moving on. As I grew gradually in my faith-walk I was convicted of God's existence. In the beginning it was just because that I could 'feel' God's presence, unfortunately or fortunately (depends on how you view it) as I mature in faith these 'feelings' became seemingly non-existence or probably I was 'immune' to it. And I have to be independent from these 'feelings' in order to believe in God, which was rather tough at first.

Then I heard an argument for God by a friend who gave a talk at Lifeline which goes:

Let's have this scenario. Assuming you have never seen a camera your entire life and I present you one. You look at it's complexity: the buttons, the lens, the body.. all crafted with precision. And you ask me: "Where did you get it?". I answer: "Well, I found on the ground...". Which sounded probable. And you ask me again: "Who assembled it?". This time I replied: "Well, it assembled on it's own by chance!". Would you believe what I say? Most people would say a definite "NO". Why? Because to create something as complex as a camera require an intelligent designer, ya?

Now, our human eye is far more complex than a camera. Don't you think it also need an "intelligent designer"? And who is this "intelligent designer"?

Answer: God.

That convicted me of the existence of God - BIG TIME. Since then, for me to deny the existence of God is f0r me to be either arrogant or stupid.

That's why I believe.

Update!

Dear friends,

I have yet to update my blog. But as a headstart, if you have noticed I did a major overhaul and have added an e-shop (the upper room). Check it out and post your comments here! ;) So please bear with me as I update my blog from time to time! =)

God bless.