Tag Archives: seek

When All We Can Ever Do Is Wait

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Image copyright: Global Medical Co.

I was invited to be a guest speaker for this year’s graduation in my grade school alma mater. Our batch is the host and as a former valedictorian of the school, I felt inclined to say “yes.” Unfortunately, this is also the time when we are scheduled to move out and move in to 3 houses. No kidding. 🙂

My other reason for being hesitant to accept even if it’s considered as a privilege and an honor, I need to reveal all my accomplishments. Nope, don’t get me wrong. It is not that I haven’t accomplished anything. If I can list them all down, I have a long list. But then again, as a born-again Christian, I have learned to never give light on your achievements if they will never shed light on God.

Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.”

– 1 Corinthians 1:31

I am not sure my alma mater will like it if my speech will be more of a faith-based testimonial pointing everything to God. 😀 Ah yes, I have learned to say “no” to a lot of things at this point including a promotion which are the standards of this world. But I also believe there will come a time wherein God will say “yes” and instruct me where I go, what to choose, and what to do.

“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.”

– 1 John 2:15‭-‬16

Yes, God also appointed leaders through promotions and yet those leaders He appointed all have greater tasks assigned to them all for God’s glory and not ours. It is all between you and God and all about things happening in His perfect time if you’re tasked to lead. Just keep in your heart that it’s God as the motivation always and nothing else.

Another reason is that my parents requested that all 5 of us, siblings, keep a low profile. In fact, I am the only one in the family who is very active on social media. 😀 So I am sure my Mom will kill me now if she reads everything here. lol Love you, Mom. 😀

Anyway, when it comes to waiting, sometimes it can be grueling. I guess patience and endurance are indeed among the characters God would like us to develop aside from having this attitude to serve. While you wait, you serve God. But for the record, my husband and I can attest to this when it comes to God’s provisions: “God is always on time. Never late but always on time.” Delays are a part of this though and knowing when to act on something.

Right now I am waiting for His instructions because decision-wise, I have so many on my plate right now. Deciding is easier if I am in complete control of everything. Unfortunately, there is God whom we need to consult first and foremost. 🙂

One thing that I am constantly asking God is His wisdom and discernment whether my husband and I will stay in my hometown for good. I can see a lot of reasons now including taking care of my parents (ages 78 and 72) and my 94-year-old grandma. Another reason associated with their old age is that they need a helping hand in managing the farm. Dad manages all the farm work while my 3rd sister helps around at home together with my Mom.

My 4 other siblings, meanwhile, are all here in Manila. My eldest sister is the directress of a SpEd school, her husband is an international law professor in UP Diliman, and they have 2 kids. My second sister is in Norway working as a head nurse in a nursing home and her husband is also working as a head nurse of another department in the same facility. My brother is currently serving in the military as a pilot in the Philippine Naval Air Group and gets deployed every now and then to different places and the same goes with his wife who is a flight attendant team leader in Cebu Pacific. My husband also has supervisory roles at work which leaves the spotlight on me.

My siblings will also kill me, btw, for mentioning all that stuff about them. lol Love you all too, siblings. 😀 But I just need to share it for the sake of making my message go through and never about bragging their credentials. My work’s nature as a brand journalist is remote work meaning I can work anywhere. Though it entails heavy writing, extensive research, and editing tasks as well, I get to arrange my schedule depending on the priorities of my tasks. This is the very reason why I pursued a writing career.

My siblings here have greater responsibilities at work and with their families. But if I am the one who will go home for good, I have to make sure my husband can go with me. When I consulted with my husband, he is all good with it and said that wherever I am, there he will be. 😀 Ah yes, one of the things I thank God for is having a husband who just supports you all the way in everything you do. 😉

But we need to think of an alternative when it comes to hubby’s employment there. In the province, the opportunities are limited. But I know if this is part of God’s will and plans for me and hubby dear and for the rest of the family, I believe He will provide and equip us with everything we need lacking nothing along the way.

But for now, it is all just a matter of waiting and waiting what He wants us to do next while serving Him in other ways. And so we wait. Let the waiting game begins. 😉

In this season of waiting, here are my guiding verses:

Ecclesiastes 13: “A Time for Everything”

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.

A time to be born and a time to die.

A time to plant and a time to harvest.

A time to kill and a time to heal.

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

A time to cry and a time to laugh.

A time to grieve and a time to dance.

A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.

A time to embrace and a time to turn away.

A time to search and a time to quit searching.

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

A time to tear and a time to mend.

A time to be quiet and a time to speak.

A time to love and a time to hate.

A time for war and a time for peace.

What do people really get for all their hard work?

I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time.

He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him.

What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again.”

– Ecclesiastes 3: 1-15

Always waiting on God,

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P.S.

When I texted Dad a few days back, he told me this and nostalgia hit me:

And when my 3rd sister sent us these photos of them harvesting mangoes, so much of my childhood memories came flooding in:

Ah, yes. If it is God’s will too, I’d like my future kids to experience the same thing I did back when I was a kid. But for now, I guess I’ll just wait what God’s plans are. 😉

Instrument

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When I was saved, the next thing I prayed to God was  for Him to use me as an instrument to reach out to the people who are “lost” and let them know about Jesus Christ. Little did I know and neither did I really understand what being an “instrument” meant back then. Until came that time when I was given the actualities on what it really feels and what is it really like to be used as an instrument.

I have learned two things when God used me: sacrifices and humility. Exactly how God sent Jesus Christ as the way for us to be saved. To follow Christ is to accept Him first as your Savior and be Christlike. It meant going through sacrifices and having humility. I didn’t understand at that time why I had to go through the same things I went through before when I am already a Christian now, pure and devoted. Trials after trials came. Setback after setback. I got corrupted again but I held on to my faith. I noticed that the more I become bolder with my faith and in my devotion, the enemy strikes even harder and more painful this time.

But, what the enemy didn’t know that for every hardest blow I take, I come out unscathed. For every failure, I come back up twice as high as I fell. I have wounds, but I am made whole again. For I have a God who heals, who restores and redeems. 🙂

“Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.” – Psalm 55:22

Sacrifices played a crucial role being an instrument in spreading the Word of God. It meant persecution, corruption at one point and eventually reaffirmation of faith. To sacrifice is to bleed, to lay open your wounds, to submit every part of your being for the good of one or many.

To be able to endure sacrifices is humility at its best. You are subdued to the lowest point of your weaknesses leaving them raw and open and yet this is what gives you the opportunity to trust God and have faith in Him wholly, with no reservations and with utmost sincerity.

Indeed, when you reach out to the “lost,” how would you help them when you don’t know what they really are going through? How can you sympathize with them when you don’t know the pain they feel, the sorrow they go through, and the struggles they face in every aspect of their lives? I had to experience them too. And when I went through all that, I already know how to deal with them, I know what to do when I make this mistake, I already know who and where to turn to. And that is what they needed to hear, that is what they needed to learn and that is why God gave me the task.

Testimonies are always the best examples of salvation and ultimately, of God’s love through the Cross. They are the best motivators for a changed life, so to speak. I was subverted back to who I was because God is assured that I can never be led astray this time. Though I have to make the sacrifices, He knows I will be going back to Him, seeking and reaching Him out all the more. Then, share the Word and the meaning of the Cross.

Yes, being an instrument is a two-way learning process. I, too, was learning. I, too, feel the pain. I, too, feel the struggle – with them who are “lost.” But the only difference, I had a steadfast faith and I know the meaning of the Cross. I always go back to God, I always think about the Grace. I “report” what I did, I repent if I made mistakes along the way, I submit to His will and then I accept what needs to be done  next through prayers for continued guidance from our Father.

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” – Galatians 5:6

At the end of it all, I ask myself: “Why do that, Tin? Why ask God to give you the task of being an instrument in letting people know about Him? Why let yourself go through all the pain and the sacrifices?”

At first, I don’t know the answer. But God gave the answer: it was LOVE. He loves us so much that is why He sent His son Jesus Christ to save us from our sins. I love my God and Jesus Christ so much for this GRACE, I love the people around me too much I want them to be saved too. It was all for LOVE that I will endure the sacrifices, that I will accept humility. For I know too that this LOVE that saved me will be the LOVE that will save them all too.

This was the love that I used to sarcastically joke about. The love that I used to amusingly take for granted. The love that I have no regard at all. And yet, it was because of this LOVE that I survived in this world.

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Not only so, but we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his LOVE into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

– Romans 5: 1-5

Before I end this article, I would like to share this verse as a reminder so as to not fall into the trap that the enemy has set out for us in order to cut in on our RACE towards GRACE:

“The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

– Galatians 5: 19-21

Forgive yourself, no one is condemning you. But continue to do what is good, what is right and what is pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. So my dear brothers and sisters, I pray that may we all work together towards having this through Jesus Christ our Savior – LIFE IN ETERNITY and continue the good fight of faith, no matter what it takes. 🙂