This is a praise report because we just have a GREAT and WONDERFUL GOD worthy of our praise and all the glory. ❤😊

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow

The title sounds familiar? It should if you sing it. 😉

A few weeks ago, my husband and I have been going through rough months in several areas of our lives. Our families were there to give us comfort and support and yet we all know that the deep grievances of the heart can only be comforted by God and God alone. Emotions were high, tough decisions have to be made.

I must admit I was never that strong. In fact, I was very weak during these moments – I cried, I lamented, I complained, I was bitter, I was enraged…but I held on to faith. Because God rewards those who remain steadfast in times of testing. I know that He will always be there.

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. – 2 Corinthians 12:9

The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground. – Psalm 147:6

What Are Blessings?

When I speak of blessings, I am referring to both tangible and intangible things. Most of them, in fact, won’t fit the standards of this world and how the world defines success – riches, accumulation of possessions and material wealth, winning a competition, having a prestigious title, achievements, etc.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” – Romans 12:2

Yes, this has always been my mantra – don’t go with the flow when it comes to social practices. Assess whether what you are doing is indeed to glorify God, do His will, and serve others. Because as much as we want to deny it, this is our only purpose in this world – spread the Good News.

Are We Really Doing It For God?

I realized that thanking God for our achievements doesn’t really glorify God. I, myself, was a victim of this. Every time I accomplish something, I always think that it is also what God wanted me to do. Little did I know that it is the enemy’s trap to slowly enter in his lair – temptations for worldly success, to please the world, to be prideful about what I can do, and to boast about what I have.

This drive to pursue selfish ambition and using God as a cover-up is a very deadly addiction. It poisons your motivation until you are suddenly being led astray. You become hungry for power. You become hungry for validation. You become reliant on your own efforts. You become envious of others. You become addicted to worldly rewards. In other words, it is now the world that is feeding you and your soul, not God anymore.

“Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions.
These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.” – 1 John 2:15-17

How did the realization come? Sometimes it comes as a painful rebuke and sometimes through other people’s lives as examples of who I should be and who I shouldn’t be.

This was how one challenging situation became a blessing. As I’ve shared in my previous posts, circumstances demanded I go through several medical checkups – I was feeling the symptoms and the effects of doing things my way driven by my ambitions.

It was a “health scare.”

But that “health scare” was God’s wake-up call. He doesn’t want me to do things apart from His will and guidance. He knows I was being led astray from where He originally called me to be. As God’s blessing for my obedience, I came out clear in every single test with just a slight work-up (yay for this!). But, I know I need to receive it with a promise on my end – follow the path that He chose for me.

And if you’ve been a follower of Christ for a long time now, I know you can relate when I say that the road that God sometimes asks us to tread on is never an easy path. It requires a lot of sacrifices but in the end, it is always about this – relinquishing the “self” and embracing God’s will.

Our notion of “best” is oftentimes not what God has in mind as His best for us. Don’t be deceived by the enemy, always check your heart, and never forget to ask God for His will every single day.

We always have to be careful with this and look into our hearts what really is our motivation and agenda for doing the things that we do now? Are they really to please God or to please ourselves and other people?

Do you still sense that tinge of “I want” when you make decisions in life or is it always about “what does God want?”.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.” – Philippians 2:3

I have learned to let go of promotions, of pursuing my dream to have initials attached to my name, of following my timeline and bucket/wish list, and of being regarded as society’s “best” all to pursue God’s calling. I have learned to deny the cravings of my flesh and the demands of the world when God says they are not what I need.

God always sees our hearts.

Two Sundays ago, a preaching by one of our pastors in church resonated with me. It came just very timely. It is about the pursuit of being a COO or a CEO or being at the top, in other words, and the dangers of it. His question just lingered on me all throughout the week:

“At what cost?”

Yes, there is nothing wrong being at the top or being the best and yet what is the motivation behind it? If we have the wrong motivation and if it is not God’s will for us, then, definitely, there is a collateral.

What are we willing to sacrifice? Is it time with our kids? Is it quality time with our spouses? Is it our health?

This brings us back to the hierarchy of priorities:

1. God
2. Spouse
3. Family
4. Career
5. Ministry

These are never interchangeable. When we do rearrange them, then we know that this is where things go bad – imbalance. Sooner or later we will experience the consequences of it. My only prayer is that it won’t be too late before we arrange them again in that order.

How many people now are diagnosed with stress-related obesity or have been stress eating? How many have been diagnosed with ailments that have unexplained causes? How many have already died because some of these ailments have no cure?

This was the wake-up call for me. It is in my nature to be a multitasker. I want to accomplish a lot because I want to do a lot of things to the point that my body begins to fail me because I was just too tired.

And it all dawned on me, all for what and for whom?

I know God is giving me an assurance that I have made the right choice – to never pursue the things of this world. He knows my heart did not completely embrace this yet. So He sealed it with reminders for two consecutive days from my daily devotion last week about worldly success, busyness, etc.

Filling Up The Tank

When I was staring at the speedometer, a thought came into my mind. Just like a car when it’s low on fuel, it needs to stop or better yet, it needs to be filled up. Only then can it run smoothly again back on the path – the right path. No stopovers this time, no detours. Unless it’s time for yet another refill.

One wise question to ask ourselves is this: “If we are the car, what, or rather, Who is our fuel?”

To end this article, I am just grateful for the abundance of blessings, too, for each and every member of our families. I never fail to include them in my prayers every single night because, once again, they come 3rd on my list of priorities. I don’t want to boast specifically but let me just boast about a God who is more than enough. ❤

My only prayer is that I can spread the love of God to others, too, in whatever medium, through what God has called me to do, and with what He has given me. The future seems dim and covered, for now, and my view of it is limited. But I have faith God is already waiting for me at the end of the road. I was just stopping by for a fuel refill for now. 😉

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” – Corinthians 4:18

Blessed to have a God who calls me His daughter,

P.S.

Who’s ready to enjoy summer with me and bask under the bright sun with a grateful heart? ❤ Life is just good when you have God in it, isn’t it? 😉

And of course, what is life without God and your God-given mate? My deepest gratitude goes out to my beloved husband, too, for a whole lot of things. ❤

FOOD FOR THE SOUL