Trusting God’s Plan for You

 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” - Jeremiah 29:11

“I really don’t know anymore.” 

“I’m so confused.”

“Why do these things happen?”

At some point in life, it can get really confusing. Especially in times of crisis — a family in conflict, a loved one falling sick, saying goodbye to someone who died, personal problems that can’t seem to go away or be solved easily. 

Add to that the world in chaos. Endless wars, the pandemic, differing beliefs, political turmoil, a deteriorating environment, the world seemingly falling to pieces with every event that comes out of the news.

Take heart, be courageous. When we seem lost in life’s  voyage, seemingly adrift and helpless in the middle of a dark ocean, often buffeted by storms, unable to see the shore or an end to the confusion and suffering, there is only one thing left to do. 

Surrender it all to God. 

He is the most reliable compass. His teachings are the most effective way to navigate in the darkness. Trust in Him. Trust in His promise. Isn’t His plan for us to prosper us? Didn’t He say He wanted to give us hope and a future? 

Even if you couldn’t comprehend HOW God plans to do this, still continue to hold on to Him. 

Must you really comprehend? Do you really need to have an explanation? And would you really understand Him even if things were explainable to you? Do not question the how, why, even when. The important thing is He CAN. And He WILL. 

Well, now, how do we even know He WILL? You may ask. Look back then, to the many times in your life when a gracious thing has been done to you, a small seemingly random good news came upon you, a small windfall of a bonus, a brief respite on something, a chance but kind word from a stranger.  Believe that this is God’s grace in its many forms and manifestations.

Life may be confusing, but at some points of it, life has been good to each and everyone of us.  That’s God’s track record of helping us, of Him keeping His promise, showing His Love.

So when things seem dark and all seem lost, hold on to Him and His promise. The thought of this alone will comfort you, the waiting will be hopeful and bearable, the journey less arduous, and when finally His answer comes, the result will be glorious.

May His Grace fall on you and tide you over. 

A Poem When All the World Seems Dark

You wake up with a hopeful heart, thankful for a new day that dawned. 

You may or may not feel the aches on your joints or the pain in your bones.

You may bounce out of bed or shuffle slowly out of it.

The weight of your matter puts a dot of gray on your otherwise sunrise-full morning.

You may or may not be a social media denizen.

But there are relatives to touch base with, friends' lives to check on.

Then the virtual world intrudes on your solitude.

And a clump of ugly and angry smear your lanscape.

You may attend to the matters of living no matter your circumstances.

For you are still living, for you are still breathing, right?

Yet you hold it in and try to stop the question

Is this really the way the only way to live?

You may retain your peace, although it may seem rare these days.

And after lunch and by the afternoon that peace may well have been destroyed.

By news, goings-on and the world's inevitable turning.

But sorrowfully turning, turning it seems to darkness.

But here is a secret -- the day is not lost.

Here is another -- the world is not dark.

It is only your mind and your matter that are lost and dark.

For there is One who never fails to win the day and light up the world.

Do you know Him?  He is the king of all creation, your God.

Does it make sense now?  Your mind and your matter is safe in His hands. 

Do you see it?  The day may seem lost, but it is still His day that He created.

Do you realize now?  The world may seem dark as it turns, but it is still turning by His will.

So tomorrow, wake up with a hopeful heart, thankful for a new day that dawns. 

Your God reigns over everything.

-o-

A Birthday Prayer

Dear God,

Turning another year older is a precious blessing.  I am most thankful to you for adding one more year to my life.  When I look back to the years in my life, I could clearly see your hand behind all of my life's writing.  You are indeed the author of it. 

There were many good days in it, and there were also many that were sad.  People came and went.  Many people stayed.  Hopes were fulfilled and dashed.  Achievements were unlocked, be they big or small.  Buckets of tears were shed but there were also tons of laughter.  In all those threads of my life, you were behind them all, my beloved God.

Then there were those serendipitous moments when things happened by chance.  Random events that accrued to my advantage.  They clearly were not because I did it by myself or because of who I am or because of what I did.  It was all you, my God.

If I sum up all those years, there were more color and adventure and excitement in that total than there were pain or sadness or despair.  Mostly there was joy.  And the feeling that I was always loved.  In my baddest, saddest, meanest, ugliest, I was always loved.  By You.

I pray that you grant me more years of this joyous adventure, my God.  Please always be by my side, hold my hand, and protect me as I venture forth.

Love,

Your child

 

When Good Men Do Nothing

Did you wake up stunned and horrified by the news today?  Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut will never be the same, and the whole world is collectively scarred by one more piercing blow from the hands of evil.  From the news everywhere, evil seems to be having a grand time wreaking havoc on humanity.  Shall we let it?

No amount of weeping will bring back the lives of innocent children.  No amount of cursing will undo the tragic act of a 20-year old gunman.  The whys and hows will come from all sources -- detailed, analytical, factual.  But let us instead try to delve deeper and beyond that, and take a look at the source of all these ugly things in our lives -- evil.

What would posses a young man to choose to kill helpless children?  Even his mother?  Deep rage?  Hopelessness?  Drugs?  Insanity?  What thoughts went on in his head and pushed him to the edge?  In that precise moment when he wielded the gun and pointed it at the children, what  tipped the scales inside his mind that made him lose his humanity and made him pull the trigger anyway?

The world is a battle ground of a war that has been going on since before the earth was made.  We are caught up in war since the time of the fallen angel.  His minions are everywhere, and his malice permeates the world that his and our Creator made.  This unnamed one is angry at us for being loved by God, a love he can no longer feel nor partake.

Don't think it is lame to lay the blame on evil every time there is horror in the news.  It is precisely because of evil that sorrow permeates this world.  The opposing powers tear us in opposite directions at all times.  But we are not helpless against it.  There is a great gift that God has given us:  free will.

"Evil triumphs when good men do nothing."  If you acknowledge that there is indeed a spiritual war being waged in this world, and if you decide to take side with God's army instead of His enemy, then let this be your motto.  "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing."  Keep it to your heart, even in the small acts that you do everyday.  You always have a choice.

Choose to do good.  You meet a poor man on the street, choose to nod and smile instead of ignore him, if you can't spare a dime, at least spare him that.  You are seeing red because the kids are bothersome, choose to settle their issues instead of yell at them.  Small ways.  You will get the hang of it soon enough and ready you for bigger things.  Choose to listen instead of turning away.  Choose to understand instead of condemn. Choose to be love instead of hate.  Choose to pray.  Choose to deny evil.

We will have to battle evil till the day we die.  Choose to beg for God's guidance and strength to triumph over it.  The could-have-beens in Sandy Hook's tragedy is that the young man may have been saved from himself and from harming others, had evil been denied to reside in him.  Had he been anchored deep in values of kindness and goodness, had he been secure in God's love as his moral and spiritual compass, evil wouldn't have had a shot.

 

Click here for a Prayer Against Evil.

Poverty is Relative

When we cross paths with the poor, how do we react? Often we are too busy with our daily preoccupations to even bother to react. But the good in us also always can't help but feel an initial sense of sympathy, that can be followed by either a shrugging of our shoulders or an instinctive impulse to help. Take your pick, and depending on your mood, you can do anything when you happen to cross paths with the poor.

Some people shrug their shoulders and move on, saying to themselves: "That's the way it is in this world." Some shrug their shoulders, too, but offer a silent prayer or blessing for the poor person they meet. Some shrug their shoulders as well, and pray to God to uplift, if only for a day, the condition of the person in poverty. Some shrug their shoulders and console themselves, saying, "If I am rich, I could help you, but as it is now, I am only slightly better off than you, so...."

But poverty is relative. Who is the true poor in these cases? Many passages in the Bible, and even the Beatitudes reveal that the poor are God's favorite people and He blesses them more than others. The poor need Him, while the "rich" ignore Him most of the time. The poor cling to Him, and their hopes are pinned only to the omnipotent God's mercy, while the "rich" are often blinded by worldly affairs.

So which is better -- being poor in material possession, or poor in God's love? To walk the streets well-heeled but loved by the world, or unshod yet loved by God? Take your pick!

Short Prayer:

Lord, let me never lose Your love. Let me be poor in all things but rich in Your mercy. Let me lack in worldly possessions but be filled daily with Your Presence. Amen.

Your God Will be My God

Celebrations of weddings and wedding anniversaries always bring to mind the Song of Ruth.  Some couples even make it part of their wedding vows.  Ruth's song is a poem about love, loyalty, and commitment.  It is a beautiful avowal of unity between two persons with God.

What makes the Song of Ruth very powerful is that it is part of a very amazing love story, as told in the Book of Ruth.  Ruth was a Moabite, a race apart from God's Chosen People, the Israelites.  She was an outsider that went on to become the great-grandmother of King David, from whose line will eventually come forth the Messiah.

This came about because of Ruth's unhesitating acceptance of her mother-in-law Naomi's culture, people, and God.  Her words about this acceptance went down in history as one of the most famous and beautiful vows that anyone can say to a loved one.

"Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me." 

- Ruth 1:16–17