The month of May is a triple M celebration for my family. For always, we celebrate our daughter May's birthday on the 9th, Mother's day on 2nd Sunday and of course, Marriage or wedding anniversary of me and Joy on the 17th. It made me think twice about this last night and surely, I know, the Lord has a dry sense of humor for making this month a noteworthy one.
Why is this so? Because this charming daughter of mine, bright and spunky as she is, always makes her mother's nerve stretch to its limit on the way she does things and eventually I and Joy would end up having an acid argument over her. That's what makes this month a Memorable one...May...Mother...Marriage.
But this piece is not really about that. Because at the end of that triple M malaise...everything was patched up and was taken under control thru patience and prayer.
Anyway, our current Christian Life program being conducted in Fairfield, where me and my wife has the privelege of serving, is starting to be bombarded with oppressions from the darkside. The evil one is attacking one of the most important facet of our human lives – our Health.
The loved ones of some of our members and our members themselves are being tested with health and medical problems that would prevent them to serve to this important spiritual renewal of the participants – the CLP.
We then ask ourselves – why is this happening? Why did God allow these things to happen? Last night reading some reflections, I rested my eyes in a verse from the Gospel of John 16:33 “"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace." And a sudden realization came to me then....Jesus has just ascended into Heaven, He had survived the pain and became victorious. He then has just impressed on us that we should and must lift our burdens to Him to have the peace and happiness we desire for.
If I live to be a hundred there are some things I will never understand. Why do some people live, and some die? Why do some people have debilitating diseases and others, perfect health? Why do some have loads of money and others struggle to survive? Why do some get caught
and others go free? Why do some people recover and get well, others don't?
Don't we all wonder about these questions? I do, from time to time, and my answer is always the same, "I don't know." I don't know much, and even less the older I get. My list of questions I want to ask when I get to heaven is pretty long.
In this life, there are a lot of mysteries. We will not humanly understand many things. Yet underlying all the unknowns is the one great thing we do know: God is still on His throne. He is still sovereign, still in charge. He knows what is going on. He doesn't just wake up one morning, look down, and say, "Oh my gosh! Look at that!!"
We may not be able to trust in the system, in people, in circumstances or luck. But we can trust in the Lord God. And the promise is that one day, every tear shall be wiped away. Every sickness, every injustice, every heartache.
Jesus said we will surely have troubles here on earth, but to be undaunted and confident because He has overcome the world's power to harm us permanently.
My prayers to those who are in ill-health and suffering in pain, Yolanda Duque, Joseph Benedict Marcelino, Ronald Sapin. Those who are in recovery and complete healing, notably,Rose Perez. The mothers who are carrying a human being inside their wombs, my wife Joy and Barbra Duque. And for all us, especially those who are serving and those who has committed themselves to serve the CLP, that we rest our hopes and faith to that man-God who gave his whole Life to us so we could live with Him and in Him with the Father in Heaven.
Bottom-line, the answer to all these questions really is- hang onto the promise, and hold onto the Lord.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Sunday, May 06, 2007
BE STILL
I'm reposting an article made by my sister, Loreen, for Cebu Daily News....
BE STILL
“When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with you above the storm.
Father, you are King over the flood.
I will be still and know you are God.”
Beautiful worship song I’ve come to love. It tells us to be still. Be quiet. Know there’s a God. But this is not always easy to be so.
In this fast and busy world where you wish there’s more than 24 hours a day to do all what you need to do, to be still and be quiet rarely happen.
Debts to face. Bills to pay. Careers to push. Business to thrive. Children to take care of. Overtime for work. Like what the song is saying, these are the rising oceans, roaring thunders and storms we have everyday. So how can there still be time to be still and be quiet? The strong stresses that there is a God we must know who rules over the chaos of the world.
Sure, you can say that you always know there is God. If so, why won’t you have the time for Him then? The time for the God we know is quiet time…that personal encounter with him where in the stillness of our being, His spirit is. And then He speaks in our hearts. If we listen well, He will always have a special message for us.
The past weeks have been frenzy for me. Making sure those revenues for our business operation is stable everyday commands a great responsibility for me. And all my senses stay alert everyday…mind boggling, eyes straining (we are in the internet business so the computer is a must) and time-consuming hours of work.
I found myself having lesser quiet time and more computer time; more business thinking than spiritual reflections. In prayer, my body will be postured in worship to God but my mind continues to rush here and there.
No wonder that I seem not to be getting the messages I’m asking from God lately. My questions to Him come back to me hollow. One night, I bowed down and pleaded for an answer to a request I was making. Try I did to listen, yet nothing. I was like a full glass of water overflowing with my own thoughts and plans.
And then I gave up. I realized that if I am full, how can God come through my spirit? It was past midnight when I quieted my mind and gave in to the silence around. I emptied myself of the useless blabbering of words and overflowing worldly thoughts. Be still and know there’s a God.
I got a devotional book and guess what greeted my eyes? On the page I flipped open is a story of a certain Mark who wrote a computer program for his office that enables the issuance of certificates complete with picture files. That day the customer line was rather long so it became a huge problem when the program suddenly conked out! He made several hurried prayers to the Lord and continued to find solutions. Fast prayers and panic combined, Mark was suddenly at a loss.
Then suddenly, he felt the need to be still and focus on the Lord in prayer for wisdom. In a few minutes, that wisdom came and his problem was solved. Not through his busy thinking but from simply quieting down and being still.
So you can imagine what went through me when I read that story at that particular moment when I was also in a frenzied state myself over work and schedules. Then I smiled, looked at the cross before me and sighed, “So, this is what you have been trying to tell me, Lord…all this time.”
I had desperately wanted to hear from God, yet my mind continues to be distracted and so busy thinking my own way that I missed His message. This may not yet be the answers to my questions and problems, but God has taught me to focus first on Him by being still; to give Him that moment of silence so He can reveal Himself to me as my God who is over and beyond all problems.
Read again the song in the beginning of this column. It’s actaully not just a song. These are God’s own Words in Psalm 46:11, “…be still and confess that I am God!”
I am writing this article in a special state of silence and stillness. What better topic to write for you than the disposition I’m going through. And what an inspiration it is to also exhort you to make time for the Lord’s entry in your heart. When you feel exhausted, confused, harassed, panicky and pressured, stop…focus on the God that you confess to know…be still …and then you will know He is there…that He is your God after all.
BE STILL
“When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with you above the storm.
Father, you are King over the flood.
I will be still and know you are God.”
Beautiful worship song I’ve come to love. It tells us to be still. Be quiet. Know there’s a God. But this is not always easy to be so.
In this fast and busy world where you wish there’s more than 24 hours a day to do all what you need to do, to be still and be quiet rarely happen.
Debts to face. Bills to pay. Careers to push. Business to thrive. Children to take care of. Overtime for work. Like what the song is saying, these are the rising oceans, roaring thunders and storms we have everyday. So how can there still be time to be still and be quiet? The strong stresses that there is a God we must know who rules over the chaos of the world.
Sure, you can say that you always know there is God. If so, why won’t you have the time for Him then? The time for the God we know is quiet time…that personal encounter with him where in the stillness of our being, His spirit is. And then He speaks in our hearts. If we listen well, He will always have a special message for us.
The past weeks have been frenzy for me. Making sure those revenues for our business operation is stable everyday commands a great responsibility for me. And all my senses stay alert everyday…mind boggling, eyes straining (we are in the internet business so the computer is a must) and time-consuming hours of work.
I found myself having lesser quiet time and more computer time; more business thinking than spiritual reflections. In prayer, my body will be postured in worship to God but my mind continues to rush here and there.
No wonder that I seem not to be getting the messages I’m asking from God lately. My questions to Him come back to me hollow. One night, I bowed down and pleaded for an answer to a request I was making. Try I did to listen, yet nothing. I was like a full glass of water overflowing with my own thoughts and plans.
And then I gave up. I realized that if I am full, how can God come through my spirit? It was past midnight when I quieted my mind and gave in to the silence around. I emptied myself of the useless blabbering of words and overflowing worldly thoughts. Be still and know there’s a God.
I got a devotional book and guess what greeted my eyes? On the page I flipped open is a story of a certain Mark who wrote a computer program for his office that enables the issuance of certificates complete with picture files. That day the customer line was rather long so it became a huge problem when the program suddenly conked out! He made several hurried prayers to the Lord and continued to find solutions. Fast prayers and panic combined, Mark was suddenly at a loss.
Then suddenly, he felt the need to be still and focus on the Lord in prayer for wisdom. In a few minutes, that wisdom came and his problem was solved. Not through his busy thinking but from simply quieting down and being still.
So you can imagine what went through me when I read that story at that particular moment when I was also in a frenzied state myself over work and schedules. Then I smiled, looked at the cross before me and sighed, “So, this is what you have been trying to tell me, Lord…all this time.”
I had desperately wanted to hear from God, yet my mind continues to be distracted and so busy thinking my own way that I missed His message. This may not yet be the answers to my questions and problems, but God has taught me to focus first on Him by being still; to give Him that moment of silence so He can reveal Himself to me as my God who is over and beyond all problems.
Read again the song in the beginning of this column. It’s actaully not just a song. These are God’s own Words in Psalm 46:11, “…be still and confess that I am God!”
I am writing this article in a special state of silence and stillness. What better topic to write for you than the disposition I’m going through. And what an inspiration it is to also exhort you to make time for the Lord’s entry in your heart. When you feel exhausted, confused, harassed, panicky and pressured, stop…focus on the God that you confess to know…be still …and then you will know He is there…that He is your God after all.
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