Departing & Departure Points

When I promoted my book to a lawyer friend some months back, he was taken aback by the title of my book, Departure Points. But I explained briefly to him that it is about my journey and my many departures from one place to another. I am not sure whether he bought a copy after that. When I rearranged my study room yesterday I realised why it had taken me 14 years before I could sit down and work in my room. It is because I have been departing and never was in one place long enough. Since I was 13 years ago when I left home to study in Singapore and then in the past 25 years of ministry I have been departing from one place to another. In my short 4 years in Ranau I received 4 appointments; the third I turned down for 2 months before the issue of remuneration was settled and I took up my 4th appointment for 2 and a half years before departing once more from Ranau back to Kota Kinabalu at the end of January 2019. Perhaps God meant for the MCO for good.
At least I sat at home but it took until the end of the third month, just a few days ago that I took action to remedy my failure to set up my study room. This morning I cleared some stuff and found a box still unopened. It was a gift that I received last year at my 25th anniversary of my Christian ministry. When I opened it, it was a pewter mug Royal Selangor and straightway I thought of the verse "I will lift up the cup of the salvation and call upon the name of the Lord" (Psalm 116:13). This evening I looked at the cup again and suddenly I noticed that that was the inscription on top of the mug - "Happy 25th Anniversary". Yes, there were a few who came bearing gifts but this gift of the mug was the only one that acknowledged my ministry in the Lord. A few I whom I invited did not show up but more than 30 close friends did. When I reflected on the unopened box, I thought of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. If we don't use them or don't even know that they exist, these gifts are no use to us. But when we are open to the Holy Spirit and receive his outpouring and manifold gifts, our lives will be transformed and will be greatly productive for His glory for unless we use and utilise the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we might be just relying on our own strength but the word of the Lord says, "it is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord." (Zech 4:7).