MyWalk is a new monthly feature on the BCEC blog, exploring how people conduct their walks with God.Today I’m talking to Cher Hui, who has been coming to BCEC for two years
Cher, tell me a bit about your background.
I was a devoted Buddhist growing up, attending camps and even serving as president of my high school’s Buddhist society. But I could never find fulfillment. My dad told me that Buddism is just too deep to understand fully, but I always had doubts.
So when did you become a Christian?
I first accepted Christ when I was 17 but didn’t have much of a Christian life because I couldn’t go to church and didn’t have many Christian friends. I mostly learned through books.
What kind of books did you read?
I had one Christian friend, Rachel, who brought me to Christ. She gave me two books by Joshua Harris: I Kissed Dating Goodbye and Boy Meets Girl. Relationships are quite important to me, and God used that to draw me to Him.
So were those the first two Christian books you read?
Yes, and I found them wonderful, all about God’s plans for every single one of us. At that point I thought it would be great if we could go back to the idealistic [mindset of] Disney, but what God has in mind is even better than whatever fairytale we can imagine.
Since then what books have helped you to grow?
I’ve read a lot of Joshua Harris, Leslie Ludy, and Max Lucado. Many of them dealing with femininity and relationships. I love the description of relationships in the Bible because, since I was young, Buddhism taught me that we must overcome our nature– it’s all temporary. The goal is to reach a point past the struggle. But they never talk about what our roles are in this world, what is the purpose of life, why are we born, all these questions that make my mind all mixed up. There is no elaboration on so many things the Bible explains, such as our identities as men and women in God’s plan.
Reading the Bible has showed me how wonderful and wise God is in his design for humanity, and how He loves us as we are, without being perfect.
So what might one of your devotional times look like?
After I rededicated my life to God in February of 2011, I realised that there were many idols in my life (I still have them now). Since then, I try to make myself at peace with God every day.
What do you mean by that?
Well, my daily desire to have God as my Lord. Every morning, I try to spend time inviting the Holy Spirit to be in control of my day. Most days, I wake up with work or other problems on my mind, but if that is the case, I will spend as long as I need to get my heart right with God, the focus back on Him.
So there’s no set time to how long you spend with God.
Right. It could be half an hour or two hours, depending.
What if you’re in a rush to be somewhere?
If I know I have to be somewhere early, I ask God the night before to wake me up. It is very hard, but God is always faithful. For instance, when I had exams in my final year, I would stay up really late to study and would ask God to get me up, like a personal alarm. If I set my clock for 7am, He would consistantly wake me up at 6:50am, right before the alarm went off. Walking with our God can be very practical as well! And it is lovely and fun for God to wake me up, He is my Daddy!
Is there any set time you try to aim for?
It depends. But every morning I aim to read and meditate on some verses, and do a bit of journaling. There’s no fixed time or length. But I also have a Bible on my desk at work that I’ll read when I need a break. The morning is the important one though.
So you tend to split your quiet times throughout the day?
Just my Bible reading. In the morning I also try to go through some devotionals or christian books. I love journaling a lot. It’s fun to read back as well, to see how God has been answering my prayers or brought me through some hard times. It’s how I communicate with God.
A form of prayer in a sense.
In a way. Journaling can be very personalised.
How do you find it different from speaking aloud or in your head to God?
I think each word means more when you have to write it out. And then I have a written record of what God has brought me through. I can see from page to page how God has comforted, healed, and carried me. Also, I can see how my emotions change when I write. Like, this page here is so dark and full of tears, but in the next few the tone has changed, from “I don’t understand what You’re doing” to “thank you for helping me”.
So you can see the process.
Yes, the whole process, and especially when I’m praying for other people.
Going back to what you said earlier about devotional books, what are some that you’ve found especially helpful?
It really depends on my mood. For instance, if I’m feeling especially lonely about being single one morning, I’ll read something like Sacred Singleness by Leslie Ludy. It reminds me how singleness is a gift to serve God with.
I’m not really a methodical person, so I tend to jump around by topic.
But in my Bible reading, I go through a book at a time. For me it’s a must to read at least one chapter a day. Sometimes I’ll read more, but one is a minimum. So normally I’ll aim to get up early and get to the office before everyone else.
So you do your reading at the office?
The praying is at home, but yeah, I try to read at the office. But it’s good at home as well. I’m not really a disciplined person, so I’ve done it both ways.
Have there been times then when you get to the office and there’s not enough time to read the Bible?
Yes, but I find that I need that time to draw strength and wisdom from God even more when it’s stressful. Then I’ll just sneak out somewhere else quiet to have a cup of tea and read!
Can you do that?
Yeah, just somewhere quiet to settle myself before I start work. That’s really important for me, just to invite the holy spirit to lead. And I find myself less easily angered when I make that time with God. It’ll always be the first priority, at least I’d like it to be!
Like putting on armour for whatever the day will bring.
Yeah, it reminds you all day that God is leading your life and not yourself.
And that’s so important. Thanks for sharing a bit about how you personally walk on with God.
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MyWalk is a regular feature on thebcec.org.uk. This interview was written by Rebecca Hung, one of the regular contributors at thebcec.org.uk. If you’d like to take part in a MyWalk feel free to get in contact with her.