"And I will be still, know You are God."

‎1. Do not harden your heart.

I am not forcing you to believe anything, say anything, do anything, be anything. That is not up to me how you’re going to live your life. But nothing will ever penetrate you when your heart is a rock. You will never learn anything, feel anything, and know for sure, unless you are open and willing to let it in.  Go ahead, make your own decisions and choose your own beliefs, but I am telling you, when it is the Lord Himself knocking and seeking you, don’t you even dare harden your heart.

2. Some things just don’t make sense… because they’re not supposed to.

There are just some things that no matter how hard you try and make sense of it, it still doesn’t click in your head. And you know what? Most of the things in this world go that way. And that is because it has been designed by something, Someone far beyond us and our human understanding.  It’s not all about you. And just because your tiny human brain doesn’t get it doesn’t mean it don’t exist. Just because it’s not logical doesn’t mean it is any less real. Not knowing is not a sign of stupidity. There are just things we will never understand, because it is reserved for Someone who does.

Something happened to me just awhile ago that gave me a realization, the greatness of which is still sinking deep in my consciousness and understanding. It was a direct metaphor to my current walk of faith.

It started with my bowl of rice.

***

Yesterday I played basketball, volleyball, badminton and tug-o-war at CHElympics, and it made me realize how good it actually feels to exercise. So, in the attempt to make it a habit, and also to have Bora body by April, I joined my blockmates who regularly jog at the Acad Oval. (1)

After 2 rounds around the oval (1/4 jog 3/4 walk HAHAHA sorry i’m a beginner), I just wanted to go home, take a bath, and eat. So when I arrived my dorm room, I took a bath and dressed up. I heated my tuna in the microwave, and opened my tupperware of rice. I was tired and really hungry, so I was dying to eat. But my tired and really hungry fingers lost grip of the tupperware, and it fell. A 2 meal’s worth of rice was scattered on the floor, and I stood there (I wanted to panic and pick it up immediately, but my body was really sore HAHA) for about 5 seconds, saying, “Awwwwwwwwwwww.” I was thinking of picking it up and just heating it, it will probably kill the germs. Besides, I did not want to waste food. Part of me, on the other hand, said, “this is somehow the universe helping you eat less, since you want to lose weight and tone down.” (2)

Before I knew it, 5 minutes have gone by and my rice was dirty for sure. I swept it up, saying to the small grains, “sorry….” and threw it in the trash. I watched my hands carefully and guarded my limbs so I don’t send anything else to the floor. (3)

I heated what was left of my breakfast from awhile ago, and added the tuna I just heated, and thought, “at least I have enough for tonight.” (4)

***

You may be wondering now, “what does Jill’s dinner and her clumsiness have to do with her walk of faith?”

You see, when we accept Christ, we realize how beautiful life can be now that we have Him in our hearts. Because we have this new-found joy, we desire to never run out of that, and that means coming and staying closer to the source. We become a new person, our lifestyle slowly turns around, and we work towards walking closer to Him. (metaphor of the first paragraph)

But you have to admit it, living a righteous life and leading a new life is hard. It’s a challenge, really. Admit it. And that’s because you’re not used to it yet. There are parts of your old self that creep their way back in. There will be moments when it is so tempting to do what you used to. There will be times when it seems so good to sin and obey your earthly desires. There will be days when your old lifestyle seems more appealing than your new life. You now face a crossroads: “should I go on walking forward, stop, or take a step back?” You think and debate to yourself where you should go. Sometimes the answer seems pretty clear, but we don’t follow it anyway. Sometimes you do not know at all where you’re headed to, and you end up lost. (metaphor of second paragraph)

Before you know it, you’ve gone away from the right path. You’ve yet again done wrong.You’ve yet again sinned. And that thing you’ve just done is irreversible. It cannot be taken back. All you can do is see the other side, the brighter side, of the situation, learn from it, and move on forward. (metaphor of third paragraph)

But you know the good thing? Today we can hold on to something that will remain unphased, unchanged, constant. Today we can be sure of one thing, no matter what we do and no matter what happens. Today, as always and forever, Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for all our sins, and He resurrected to prove that we too can resurrect from our own earthly and bodily deaths. We can be confident in that. That alone can move us forward and can lead us on. That assurance is all we’re gonna need in this journey. That is enough for today. He is enough. (metaphor of fourth paragraph)

***

Now, every time I feel lost, or confused, or just insouciated, I can look at a bowl of rice and remember. :)

God bless you all! :)

(c) Nov 30 2011

Read: Jonah 2:1-10

v 2 “I called to the Lord for help, and He answered me! I was deep in the grave, I cried to You Lord, and You heard my voice!”

v 6 “God, You gave me life again!”

v 8 “Salvation comes only from the Lord. I will make special promises to You, and I will do the things I promised.”

—> Sometimes, the Lord asks us to do something for Him that we’re not comfortable to. Sometimes, He will ask us to do something out of our comfort zone, something we feel like we cannot do. So we avoid it. We flee from Him. We run away from the Lord and choose to live the “safe,” the “secure,” the “EASY” life. But even then, we will encounter hardships and difficulties and we will be trapped in our bad decisions and wrong path.

—> But the Lord our God hears us. Our pain. Our lost voice. Our troubles. And He will save us. He will comfort us, answer our prayers, and make us new. No one else loves us enough to save us from the trouble we caused for ourselves. No one else can and no one else will. Only the Lord.

—> And now that we have been forgiven, cleansed and renewed, we should return to obeying His will. We should commit ourselves to following Him. We must promise to serve Him and obey His orders, and we should, with all our might, keep and fulfill our promise.

(From Our Daily Journey or ODJ)

1. How can you tell if you’re fighting for justice, or simply being selfish?
   || It’s all about loving others just as much as yourself. If you want the person to get hurt so he/she could learn his/her lesson, and so you can feel better for yourself, that’s selfishness. But when you want that person to learn because you love him/her and want what’s best for him/her and want to help the person draw away from sin, that’s justice. Usually, when we want to take matters into our own hands and feel like we have to do something, that is not “letting go of the bat.” But if we forgive, let it go, and leave the work up to God, then that’s letting true justice work right there.
   
   || Different intentions will generate different actions. 
       Check on your intentions. Are you prioritizing what’s best for you,
       what’s best for others, or  what God wants? All these will lead you to do
       different things.

Hungry? Thirsty?
Trust Him, He’s been there.
And He was full.

Lost? Wandering?
Trust Him, He’s been there.
And He was found.

Scared? Terrified? Afraid?
Trust Him, He’s been there.
And He was strengthened.

Ridiculed? Embarrassed? Ashamed?
Trust Him, He’s been there.
And He was defended.

Hurt? In pain?
Trust Him, He’s been there.
And He was comforted.

Left alone? Lonely and cold?
Trust Him, He’s been there.
And He was loved.

Feel like giving up?
Trust Him, He’s been there.
And He was uplifted.

Hopeless? Desperate? Dying?
Trust Him, He’s been there.
And He was saved.

He went through
Everything we’re going through
Trust Him, He’s been there.

So that He could be there
He could be here
For us. 

If you’ve visited this site and seem to find nothing, don’t worry. There is no technical difficulty that you are experiencing or something. There really is still nothing here. ;)

I’m working my way into writing stuff for here. There are some drafts saved already. There are just so many things I want to share that I don’t know how to start!

But please be patient, whoever is reading this. I’ll get there. :)