Planning Ahead

A re-post of my post from my other blog.

04/16
It’s normal to plan ahead, we all do it. There really is nothing wrong in planning, ahead unless you make your own plans without having in mind God’s plans for you. It is in our nature to plan for something big, knowing that God did not make us small; but when our plans don’t come alive we become so disheartened. We keep on forgetting that it is not our plans that matter but His plan.

I used to feel insignificant, thinking that I am not supposed to be living this life; instead I should be doing something big for Him. I felt like I was on the right track; good thing I always ask God to “slap me in the face” whenever I’m going the wrong way. He didn’t really slap me but one night He made a way for me to talk to a friend whom He is using to make me understand something. My good friend told me how she used to feel the same way, as if she should be doing something extravagant for God; but then her counselor told her that maybe right now, that is not where God wanted her to be. God has huge plans for her, but right now He is using her mightily in the “small” things that we don’t usually notice every day.

I understood then, that once again I am going way ahead of Him by mapping out my life, when in fact He has a plan for me right now that I was not able to notice because I was busy planning. I may not be able to understand completely the way God works but I put my trust in Him knowing full well that He has a plan for me, one that is far greater than what my mind could have ever thought of.

Being Jack-not-in-a-box

I remember my professor asking us a very typical question just to prove a point. He asked us what we want to do in the future or something along that line. Of course, with a typical question you would also get a typical answer. Most of my classmates answered that they wanted to be employed and climb up the corporate ladder blah-blah, be rich blah-blah, rule the world blah-blah, and a whole lot more. The weird thing is, almost everyone wanted the same things, or maybe some just said so because those are the easiest things to say. What made us all say so? That we want those things and that somehow we are sure that it really is what we want? Are we really considering the depth of the question or are we just following blindly what our "ancestors" told us. I am not however trying to spark up hints of rebelliousness here, you can think deeply of the question whether you want to or not. I just want to tell you something about my professor.

Those deep questions about following blindly, those were his words. I guess he wanted us to make a difference, to not be stuck inside a box.

My professor is sick. He has leukemia, although he is getting better (He was found in stage 3 before, now he is just in stage 1) he still is always pale and tired. Somehow we just want him to rest and get better, and he could have, but he chose not to. He just wants to teach.

I am ending my post right here because I believe that I do not need to add anything else.

Fallen rock stars

I have always known that no human being is ever perfect, that people will always fall short. I always knew this, yet I was still blinded by the idea that somehow, though imperfect, we could all grow old and die as we are. I had such ideologies because I always looked up to leaders who- although they deal with a lot of things- are able to keep their faith in God. However, I somehow forgot that leaders are human too, and that to some extent, they will disappoint us. It is indeed very painful, sad, disheartening, and I could add more feelings and synonym to clearly describe how hard it is.

I have just seen the "worst of Christianity"1, someone whom I looked up to and respected has fallen deeply and I am feeling so many painful emotions, I am scared, and just confused. I am having a very hard time moving on because many of the things I held on to was shattered.

Now, instead of "being impressed with spiritual rock stars"2, I have learned to put my complete hope in Jesus; I am placing all my cares unto God and I know full well that He is our healer and our comforter. God knows exactly how to deal with such pains. He is everything we ever need. We are all still going through a tough time, I am still learning to fully depend on God in everything because there are times when I don't understand it, yet I know that God is embracing us all today.


1 Well, ok not sure if it is the worst, or if my description is too much, but yes, somehow now it is the worst.
2 I got this from Brady Boyd's blog which is also very helpful to this current post.

Little Things

It's great how God keeps blessing us even on the little things. We sometimes overlook those small blessings and anyway we sometimes think that God is planning this huge thing that he would not even try to plan small ones for us. Yes, God is preparing something big for all of us, however He is also pouring those small blessings for us every single time. We just have to notice it and realize how big a blessing those small things are.

Lately, I have had stressful situations while commuting. Very insignificant, but God has been blessing me greatly. I usually only bring the exact amount I need to commute, so when I suddenly needed another ride (because of the great floods of Makati or of other petty little things) I end up giving whole amounts and the drivers won't let me ride anymore. During these times, God used complete strangers to bless me. Now, I'm not giving any ideas here on how to avoid paying, I'm just saying that usually we don't notice it, but God is already at work in our lives and He always is. It took complete strangers for me to realize this.

Now it is up to us to notice all these things; that every thing and every day is God's blessing.

My maniacally throbbing tooth ache

After a very long hiatus, I am finally back to blogging. I now have a blog debt of... well a lot. So here I am blogging away again because I have all the time in the world.

For the longest time, I have had this cavity (sorry for being so open about this) in my left lower tooth, molar, whatever. Every time I eat something, especially sweet ones, it throbs maniacally (and I believe it does!); and it is getting worse! I've been wanting to go to the dentist but... I don't know, just because. Now you might be thinking where exactly am I going, but I do have a few points here.

Sometimes, we have this gaping hole in our lives or this pain that just won't go away, and yeah at first it's so insignificant that we don't even know it existed. However, if we put off fixing it, it just gets bigger and more painful. When finally we do realize that it's there, we seldom control ourselves and do things that will make it even worse. When we sin, it creates a hole, and that hole is painful yet we keep on adding to that pain. Yes, I admit, sometimes sinning gives us this enjoyable moment whatever it may be, however it is but a temporary high that multiplies the holes and pains it once created. Why do we put up so much for these pains? Is it because of all those "enjoyable moments" that we simply cannot give up? If that is the case then do you think those moments are worth all the pain?

We all know that there is something far better than putting up with such a cycle; that when every hole is filled and every pain is healed we can experience joy in a wider sense. The only thing we have to do is approach our Dentist. Let God do the filling and the fixing and the cleaning. He's been wanting for you to go to Him for the longest of time because he has prepared a feast for you that he wants you to enjoy! And whatever it is that He has prepared, we are to be sure that it is not just another temporary high.

Now this is not just an advice for those who haven't been to the dentist but this is also a reminder to those who keeps on forgetting to have their check-up. (points to self)

Way to go tooth ache for being worthy enough to be part of my blog! Cheers!