Monday, February 24, 2014

When God is silent

There are no accidents in life. God has it all written down in His book.
The problem is, my unwillingness to accept that none of the things and events in life are under my control.
Only the way I respond to them.

When you are going through a chain of seemingly unfortunate events, it is acceptable in human nature to question God for His purposes. To launch the big WHY? But, do not lose heart, for in God's seeming silence, He works His miracles in us. We, should develop silence in the face of adversity. To listen, and in listening, finally get our revelation.

When you get too much comfort in life, there leads the sin of complaining for the smallest mishaps or trials, not noticing the blessings you never asked for, but have received. In the midst of insurmountable trials, we are tempted to cry and whine against God, not thinking that He never sends us where His grace cannot sustain us. When He leads us to a direction against our will, we refuse to bend. We say, "everything has been going so well, then suddenly, this." What we do not see is that beyond the adversities, everything is still going well. It is our ability to see beyond it that is being developed. It is our need for God to being developed, as we most often forget Him when things are going smoothly.  Seeing beyond adversity is walking by faith, not by sight.
For you, there may not be a clearly visible way, but that does not mean that there is no way. Just because you don't see something doesn't mean that it is nonexistent. You only see the few steps ahead, God sees the whole staircase. You only walk in the path before you that you can see, God sees until the end of the road. Who then, should control the driving? We are blind drivers hoping to see the next sign. Yet we complain as if it were our right to know. Our self- entitlement to know and be in control takes over us. Why should we be?

When God is silent, He is at work. While we are too busy whining and complaining and we refuse to see the good despite the bad, we forget to reflect of the possible benefits these trials are giving us. Then maybe, we are being taught to reflect about everything in life. So that we may live a meaningful one.

When God is silent, we must know that He is still God. Whatever is happening in our lives will pass. There are no permanent storms, unless we create them everyday. And even in storms, there are possibilities of keeping ourselves warm and safe by holding on to His promises that He will deliver us out of it.

When God is silent, we must be patient. Patience is a lesson that mostly involves God dragging us somewhere kicking and screaming. We do not want to be moved when we are somewhere comfortable. Like St. Paul said, we boast of our suffering because it produces perseverance, which produces our character and our character produces hope. How can you possibly make diamonds without breaking its outer rocks?

When God is silent, He still loves us. In fact, He is silent because He loves us. He listens to us and makes a way for us. We get ourselves way in above our head and as our Father, he always bails us out. We don't have to be anything for Him. We're good just as we are and He loves us that whatever we throw at Him He just sends us His love even more, whether or not we like the form it takes when it gets to us.

So when God is silent, He is still here. He is with me, whether or not I feel it. God's presence isn't based on my feelings, it's based on my faith. And if I focus on the mountain then I cannot develop my faith. It will take a while to get used to focusing on the positive after being so negative, but it's possible. Everything is possible. It just looks impossible because I am not willing to put in the effort and the hard work. But nothing of importance ever comes easy.

I choose to thank God, because without this mountain climb, I may never reach a top and have a great view in life.  To live fully is to witness His kingdom revealed in my life and walk in His glory so that others can too.







Friday, February 14, 2014

It's all about PERSPECTIVE

"Just stay Positive because God always has a better plan!" 

This is what my mom, dad, brothers, friends and loved ones would say whenever I fail or feel down for not being able to accomplish what I am supposed to be doing. Right now, it was passing a licensure exam. I have failed once and now, twice. Though there is a indistinct voice in my head trying to make me feel down, there is a greater feeling of consolation from the words that my loved ones shower upon me. It is really encouraging to know that God does have a plan for us. 


I was devastated by the results I got, thinking that I have done my best and have prepared so much but still to no avail. I wanted to say that I was tired, but after thinking about it, it is true: God has a better plan. I chose to look at what was happening instead of what has not happened. 


Let's see, instead of passing the licensure exam and getting to work overseas, I was not able to pass. 
This could mean that God is still not finished in preparing me to be alone and away from my family. He is sparing me from some misery that working away may cause. He is also preparing me experience-wise. I will be handling a great deal of cases and patients and a meager experience may leave me even more exhausted because I will practically be lost and confused with something I am not familiar with. He gave me a chance to take and re-take probably to give me a heads up on what is coming ahead. That I will be able to take it in the future and not be shocked by the change. 

There are lots of better reasons why things don't happen rather than reasons for why they should. What matters is, God indeed has a better plan and He sees the whole road while I can only see these next few steps. He is in control and I know that He would never let me get hurt because He loves each one of us as if we were the only one living in this world. 


Perspective helps you in dealing with ANY situation that comes, no matter how hard it is. We should thank God that He doesn't always give us what we want because sometimes what we think is absolutely best for us could turn out to be the worst decision we ever made. So I believe that relying on God to do the decision making is essential to life. Like the apostle Paul said in Phil 4:6-7" Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."


We literally have to pray about EVERYTHING. The very beat that comes from your heart is from Him therefore you are incapable of doing anything on your own because He is the sole provider of your life. When God delays, they are not denials, they are simply little hurdles that we have to overcome with Him so that we learn to call on Him and learn the importance of walking with Him in every second of our lives. Outside of Him nothing can be done. So a perspective that is focused on God can really help us in dealing with our situations because He always has a purpose. He makes sure that absolutely no second of your life is without purpose.


No one is ever destroyed by being positive but I'm pretty sure being negative will. So you may feel like there is this voice keeping you on the negative, even when your body doesn't feel like being positive, it all begins by thinking positively and speaking positively whether we may or may not feel like it on the outside.

Do it gradually, just think of positive things little by little everyday, and you will see a great improvement in your life! I used to be a mess putting myself down with my own thoughts, but now, even I am surprised that I have the grace to keep moving and stay at peace. Remember that patience helps you keep your peace.

Keep pressing on because God is on your team!


Is 55:8
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Overcoming dependence

Dependence, in all its meaning is very unhealthy and destructive unless it is on God. We cannot depend on anything else after all, not ourselves, not other people and most definitely not on things. God provides people in our lives and supplies them with His grace in order to be His intruments, but depence on them can mask and overpower our need for dependence on God.

You can very well tell when you are beginning to lose dependence on God when you lose security in Him. When you base your security on something else other than Him, things get out of hand. You develop attachments. Now attachments can be towards objects or people and when it becomes a habit, you will be having a hard time breaking free and regaining your composure and.security in the love of God. The bottom line is, security on other things will lead you to lise security in God.

The good news is God is always available to lead us back to Him. He is always willing to provide us the grace to see Him and feel His presence when we are overwhelmed with insecurity. We should just be open and willing to let it go and surrender our fears and anxieties to Him. Some people struggle with a bit if anxiety and insecurity while some are almost paralyzed because of it but either way, the answer still relies on God. When you have made dependence and insecurity a habit, it may be hard to overcome it at first but as you push on little by little you will find surrendering to God and regaining security in Him to be easier and easier. It will take time, it will be uncomfortable at first, but the good news is once you start the renewing of your habits, you will begin to see little victories day by day.

You will learn to do small things and eventually big things even if you are afraid. What matters is your commitment to your renewal beginning with your mind. You must be committed to think thoughts that remind you of God's presence and control in your lufe. You should keep praying for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to help you push on and endure this trial because we know that all of God's people are bound to be victorious. Ask for patience, as most of us fall in this part of our journey to victory. When you have made this daily walk a habit, surely, you are headed to freedom from your bondage to fear and insecurity.

I have been on the journey to regaining my security in God and I myself have celebrated victories, no matter how small, toward the full life God has intended for me. What matters is that we keep at it, even if we sometimes experience setbacks and failures, He is kind and merciful and will help us back on our feet again. 

God made His people strong and has bestowed upon them His power to overcome anything.

All glory be to Him!


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