A Boy Who Needs a Rescue

"The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine." (1 Samuel 17:37, NLT)

I love how David said it.

He didn't say, "Saul, let me fight the giant. I'm strong and I can win this!" or "I know what to do, trust me, leave this all to me!"

Instead he chose to use the word "rescue." Not really an impressive word to use in a fierce battle. But to David, it was clear that he will not do the fighting, the Lord will.

I love how he came so brave and courageous enough to enter the battle, yet so weak and humble enough to acknowledge that he needed a rescue. He knew that the battle was not his, but God's.

A rescue. Mind you.

Ah, Lord, teach me to respond like David, especially in times when I like to own my battles.

"David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!” - 1 Samuel 17:45-47

05.02.12 12:10am

Things We Do in Secret

Today was a busy day at work. Caught up with the things I needed to do, I grabbed my late lunch alone.

I had adobong sitaw cooked by my mom as my baon. Since I have been trying to really eat as much fiber as I can while avoiding meat, especially red meat, I looked at my dish and deliberated if I should or should not eat the tiny pork cubes mixed with my string beans.

To be honest, I found it easy to decide on what to do because aside from the hassle it would give me to separate the meat to the veggies, what really swayed me majorly in my decision making is the fact that no one is looking anyway. So I ate it.

My lame decision making reminded me of what Izzie Stevens said in one of the episodes of my favorite TV series Grey's Anatomy, "I believe that if I eat a tub of butter and no one sees me, then calories don't count."

How many of you can relate?

Those snacks that we secretly gobbled up fast right in front of the fridge late at night when the lights are all out in the kitchen and everyone's already asleep? You can keep that to yourself or pretend even that you didn't do it, but that cannot change the fact that there were calories added to your body. The calories DO count. Eventually, the more you eat a tub of butter in secret, the more calories will count. People will still not know about what you ate, but slowly and surely, they will notice and see the effect of it in your body.

But what really alarmed me is not so much of the calories but how true this is even in our lives. The things we do in secret, that is. The stuff we feed our soul, heart and mind when we are alone... and no one sees. What are the things you are watching or reading when no one is looking? What are the thoughts that you entertain in your head when you are left alone? What are the things you secretly do?

It's alarming because sometimes in life, we tend to think like Izzie and say "I believe if I watch an adult movie and no one sees me, then it doesn't count" or "I believe if I entertain corrupt thoughts and no one knows it, then it doesn't count" or we say "I believe if I don't do my quiet time today and no one sees it, then it doesn't count. They wouldn't know about it anyway."

That's true, no one would know. But the things we invest (or not invest) in our hearts and minds even when we are alone or no one sees will also count. When we fall more often into this kind of thinking, time will come when the unhealthy things you have invested in secret will eventually manifest in your life, on the way you act, the way you decide or relate to other people.

Knowing how much junk a tub of butter has? I don't think it's something we'd like to see manifesting.

The Bible says "Those who are dominated by sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. (Romans 8:5, NLT)" And because Jesus has already won the victory over sin when He died on the cross for us, IT IS POSSIBLE always to say NO to sinful things and YES to the things that please the Spirit.

Even when you are alone. Even if no one sees.

03.21.12 10:21pm

Blue

I am blue and dazed

Why this day is like any other day
No thrill, always just the same
Waking up to the same light as every day

Maybe I need a break
Alone and on my own
In a small countryside

So quiet and calm

Maybe I need to go back to my roots
Visit old places I’ve never seen in a while
Meet old friends along the way
Remember the happy days of my past

Maybe I need to take a pause
Stop thinking of my every day concerns
Take a breath of fresh air
And be carefree as a giddy kid again

Or do I need to find myself
Rediscover the things I’ve fallen in love with
Take one precious second at a time
And once more embrace it

Maybe it’s time to turn over a new leaf
Start anew and stop feeling blue
Worry less and appreciate more
Make the most of every season

Should I forget all of these fears?
Let go until nothing’s left but audacious faith
Take more risks
And just jump off the cliff?

Or maybe what I just really need
Is to sit more at His feet
Where grace overflows
Where love begins

Then certainly
Change will surely start
Tomorrow will be bright
Feeling blue ends tonight.

02.20.12 9:55pm

When Words Are Not Enough

Been planning to write a blog on how amazing God has been moving this month but every time I recount all of the things He did, I get so much overwhelmed by His greatness. So I just wrote a poem.

When Words Are Not Enough

How can I write about Your goodness

If there are no words enough to describe it

How can I express this love I'm feeling

If it takes more than my life to do it

How can I contain Your greatness

If my mind cannot even fathom it

How can I explain all of Your wonders

If it's too many that I could not even count it

Your love is great

Your love is wide

Your love is deep

Your love, oh Your love just overwhelms me

My heart beats for You

My tears fall in adoration

My lips sing of Your praises

This life lives only for You

The more I seek You deeper

The more I see who You are

And all the more my heart stays in awe

Thinking of how Your Son died for me

I don't deserve any of Your blessings

Yet You blesses me still

I don't deserve all that You are

But Your amazing grace embraces me

God, You are so wonderful

Words are not enough to say how I am amazed

I love You with all my heart

But thank You because it's You who loved me first.

01.30.12 10:45pm

Chicken Pox and God's Promises

When I had chicken pox a year ago, I was told by my doctor that once chicken pox virus enters the human body, it never leaves anymore. It can still even stay alive in our body even if we're dead already.

Tonight as I was reading through the sixth chapter of 2 Chronicles, I was reminded of the chicken pox virus.

Solomon had just assumed the throne as the new king of Israel at this time after his father King David died. His first project as a king was to build the temple of God. It was actually David's original plan to build the temple. But God had a different plan in mind. He wanted Solomon instead to be the one who will build it. So did Solomon.

After building the temple, Solomon prayed a prayer of dedication to God "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven and earth. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion. You have kept your promise to your servant David, my father. You made that promise with your own mouth, and with your own hands you have fulfilled it today. And now, O LORD, God of Israel, carry out the additional promise you made to your servant David, my father. For you said to him, ‘If your descendants guard their behavior and faithfully follow my Law as you have done, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’ Now, O LORD, God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David" (2 Chronicles 6:14-17).

Pretty odd it may seem but when I read those verses it came to my mind that God's promise is like a chicken pox virus. We die yet the chicken pox virus continues to live and stay in our body. David dies yet God still continues to fulfill his promises to him. God's promise doesn't die when we die. God's promise is not dependent on the person to whom He promised it but it is solely dependent on who God is. It overwhelms me to think how a promise-keeper God really is! I realize that God's promise is not bound by time or human life. It is bound by His faithfulness to us.

I also realize that the way we live our lives today has an effect on the lives of our future children and even the generations after us. David faithfully obeyed God when he was still alive so God made His promise true even to his son Solomon. Some of God's promises to us we might not be able to witness to come to pass anymore, but as long as we keep His commands and faithfully obey His word, He will always fulfill it. And it is a promise that God will keep even for our future children.

Truly He who promised is faithful.

01.22.12 3:21am

The Soccer of Life

Right beside the building where I work at is the grandiose International School Manila. Every day in our office on the fourth floor of Every Nation Building, we get to see a good bird’s eye view of the school’s soccer field where kids in their PE uniforms run and play like captives let out in the open. When I need to rest my mind from working, I oftentimes resort to spending a good couple of minutes just staring out at my glass window and watching these kids play soccer.

Always from my point of view, these grade schoolers seem to play soccer like a piece of a cake. In my mind sometimes I’d think that to run swiftly, kick and throw the ball all around the field and score a goalie are easy stuff to do. No sweat at all. But isn’t it that that’s how it always feels and looks like when you’re not actually the one doing it?

I’ve had my fair share of soccer games when I was in high school. We played it in one of my PE classes. It’s a tedious, breath-catching, legs-numbing game. I didn’t get to appreciate this game that much because us girls would always end up tired not just from running here and there but mostly from laughing at almost everyone’s mistakes.

Soccer isn’t easy. At least it’s not when you’re out there on the field. But it do looks easy when I’m on the fourth floor because I’m - yeah, I’m basically not there. I don’t know the bumps and bruises those grade schoolers get whenever they flunk or stumble, neither the burning heat of the afternoon sun that strikes on their skin. Not even the obstacles they go through when they try to score a goalie.

Don’t know ‘bout you but sometimes I’ve the tendency to treat God as the Guy up there who’s so distant watching over us from above. And isn’t it that at times we question him and say, “God, you don’t know what I’m going through! You don’t know how hard this is for me!”

Because we see Him like He’s on the fourth floor of heaven sitting comfortably while watching His children play the soccer of life from a distant. We think He doesn't know the lungs that gasp for air, the legs that get numb, the heart that beats fast from running around. So yeah, thanks God for placing us on a more intense game now that we’re already too tired from running.

Today, as I watch these grade schoolers play an intense game, I realize that though God gets a full view of the whole universe and we may be like a speck of a dust compared to the vastness of His creation, He understands what His children are going through. He knows our pains, our frustrations, our joys and triumphs. He’s a God that is very much involved. He knows details. He’s a personal God. In fact, David understood this and wrote in Psalm 139, “O Lord. you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!”

As if that wasn’t enough and He also knows the plans He has for us “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

At times though, what we forget is the fact that He sees the full view of the soccer field and we find it hard to trust Him when He says “Run!” or “Kick that ball, you can score a goalie from where you are standing.” So we choose to rather do things our way depending on what we see in front of us, “God, it doesn’t look like I can score a goalie from where I am standing right now, I need to move a little bit to my left! Let me move to the left!” And sure enough, we missed it. Because we didn’t want to trust the God of the universe.

And just when we were about to lose the game, He came down from heaven through His son Jesus and called for a substitution. You sit there and he did the kicking and running for you under the intense heat of the sun. He didn’t have to, mind you. But He knew how badly we will mess up the game and how badly we need His help.

Good news is - He won. Oh don't look too surprised. He's good at soccer. He created it, remember? And so if we are in Him, we can always experience victory.

10.20.11 3:56pm

A Lesson I Got from my first APE Experience

Today marks the last day of the Annual Physical Exam being held in the building where I work at. Since yesterday, people who are on staff from all over Metro Manila have been flocking to our main office to participate in this event. What makes this event extra special is that families of the staff are allowed to tag along.

So for the past two days, it’s almost like Every Nation Building has been sheltering a Family Day of sorts but only in a sterile environment with nurses and doctors in scrub suits scattered all around the place (okay, maybe sterile is not really an appropriate word to use here but please allow me to sound Grey’s Anatomy-ish for once in my life).

Since I am not yet qualified to participate in the physical exam, I was assigned to take charge of managing the traffic of the patients at the Blood Extraction Station. I like to think that it’s the emergency room of our “hospital” because it’s the station where the most action takes place. Quite a really interesting area to be assigned at.

From manning this station the whole day since APE started, I’ve already seen and encountered all sorts of different reactions from the people - adults and kids alike - who have lined up and waited for their turn to undergo the procedure of blood extraction. I’ve encountered people who are early, people who are excited (more like excited to eat after fasting for 10-12 hours), people who are a bit afraid, people who are nervous, people who are brave. Then there are those people who have gained my most respect and admiration.

I’m talking about the parents who lined up together with their kids. You see, it’s not easy to convince a kid to go through this process because it involves strangers in gloves and surgical masks, blood and needles. In the words of those cute little kids, it's "ouchie." We have already made several of those kids cry, mind you. But every time a kid cries or strongly refuses to go through blood extraction because of fear, I’ve noticed a trend on how their parents would respond. Here are the words I've been hearing from parents since day one:

“You can do it!”

“You’re strong!”

“It’s okay to cry. Mommy/daddy is here!”

“You’re brave!”

“After this, you’ll get a reward, okay?”

“It will hurt like a bite of an ant, okay? But it will be just quick! You can hold my hand.”

“Yey, it's done na! I’m so proud of you!”

“Look at me, just look at me!”

“Relax!”

Defining moment right there. I have to admit I was a bit surprised to hear those conversations because it’s very far and different from the typical parent-kid scenarios I have encountered growing up. I grew up hearing parents, who when their kids start to cry in fear, respond with words that inflict even more fear instead of saying words that bring encouragement and security to the kids:

“Magagalit sayo yung nurse!”

“Wag kang iiyak, huhulihin ka nung pulis, hala ka! Ikukulong ka nila!”

“Mapapalo ka talaga sa akin!"

"Ang arte-arte mo naman!"

"Ang tigas talaga ng ulo mo!"

“Sige, iiwan na kita dito kung di ka tumigil sa kakaiyak mo!”

And then we wonder why our kids are so coward and are growing up in fear.

No exaggeration but all kids did it. There were a lot of crying and shouting and convincing but they did it. And I'd like to believe that they all came out of the room only stronger and braver, carrying a little more security and confidence in themselves knowing that they survived the needles.

Today I choose to someday follow the astounding example of the parents who have lined up with their kids at the Blood Extraction Station.

Words have the power to change a generation. Hope we will all be mindful of the words that come out of our mouths.

The lovely HR girls manning the registration booth. Credits to Zyrus for the photo.


“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

- Proverbs 18:21

11.17.11 04:53pm