Segue to Seventeen.
I thought it was the best. Even the year 2011 seemed to magnify itself as one of the best years of my life through the highlights it possessed. Nevertheless, today, I realized.."Greater things are yet to come". Isn't that what I said for 2012?
2012 is almost halfway through. However, it has showed me so many things that are way beyond my wildest imaginations. Well perhaps that has always been the way God works to people whose trust is fully surrendered to Him. By going out from my comfort zone, and having faith in Him to step into the unknown, I find myself in awe of the wonders God has in stored for me the moment I followed Him in obedience. Like a reward for doing something good, I find this as a gift God gave me as I followed Him. Or maybe this is God giving the desires of my heart as I delight myself in Him.
Transferring to another university never has been an easy thing. The decision itself underlies so many risks to take, so many fears, worries, anxieties, and even doubts. Moreover, it has been my dream to get the best quality that I could get in my tertiary education as much as possible, of course if the Lord permits it to happen. It has been my prayer, my desire, since November 2011, as I continuously seek His will for my college life. As what I wrote before, it's in 2011 where I learned to stop arguing with God. And know the truth of that phrase has just started to sink in my mind, my heart, my life. There are really, realities, that are hard to swallow. Truths hard to accept. But then it really depends on your perspective--on how you look at things. I remember what my friend told me just recently. She told me that at the end of the day, it's actually up to us in how we interpret the things around us. So true. May God give us the wisdom and guidance in the way we think. As I see other people's lives, I started to understand how people's perspectives differ one from another. That is why, I thank God for giving me so much, so much, so much to humiliate me. Humiliation was never a pleasing thing for me, but ONLY by His grace, I've been humbled by His love and goodness, and I've learned to appreciate His humiliation.
This summer, it's not only "Youth Camp" that was a learning experience for me. Even "what's AFTER Camp" has become a learning experience too. Not only the "1'st valley", but also about the "transition" from one school to another, more like from one life to a new life. After all, so many things have changed after God began changing me for the better. But I've come to know that when something is really meant for you, when it's God's will for you, everything will be smooth. Just like what our youth leader at church told us, though there may be glitches, trials, obstacles through the process, but at the end of the day, you could still sleep with peace in your heart, resting assured that "this is His will for me, for I know He has been working in and through it, showing me that He has taken care of this matter". And yes, it has been proven very clear in my life. Now that I'm enrolled, waiting for classes to start, I could testify how sovereign God is and how He could work freely in our lives just to show us that "the Christian life is all about knowing Him more deeply each day through the things He does in us". Just as the writer wrote, "God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform..." God is paving the way for us, the only right way for us. He's clearing the obstacles in it, as we continue to take a step of faith for Him, and until we reached the end of His will, He will continue to reveal Himself, until finally, that day comes where He'll be there, taking us home, to see Him personally.
"Let go. Give up. Surrender." These are another bunch of things I've learned recently. I really gave up A LOT in my previous school. I let go so much things that really hurt me for a while too. I surrendered too much opportunities and ambitions. But now, as I come to think of those things again, I realized they are things that shouldn't have been in my life at the first place. I've found out that they are things that caused my life to be drowned in mundane affairs. They are things that made my life more like a religious daily routine. Things that robbed the "true peace, joy, and laughter" that I once had. I admit. I went BEYOND the limit too. I wanted so much things that I slowly forgot to whom those things were pointing too. At the end they no longer pointed to the One I was supposed to represent since the beginning. At the end I realized they never really made me joyous, but instead they brought restlessness to my weary life. Again, "fame", "popularity", and "position" will NEVER EVER give one satisfaction. You'll end up wanting MORE and MORE. Yes. These were the things I let go, I gave up, I surrendered to Him.
That's why really, at the end of the day, after the waves have calm down, you'll see yourself left in the aftermath of God's wonder once again, thanking Him, praising Him, for taking away what was "seemingly good" in exchange for what is "really, truly, the best". I thank Him for making my desires in-line to His. Now, after I've had the right heart, (that is continuously being cleansed and purified by Him everyday), He has placed me here. A place I did not care about at first, but then today, I can say, "this is the place He has placed me, He wants this, therefore I want this too."
It is really, a gift for my 17'th birthday. Classes will also start on my birthday, so what more could I say? THANK YOU LORD! More than this gift, You also gave me so many, too many blessings on the side. Maybe at first, I wasn't able to understand how those could look as "gifts", but now Lord, I've learned to appreciate their beauty as well.
I do thank Him for those "extra blessings" too. Not to mention the "1'st valley" too. I learned that in every part of our lives, He must be the center. That's why I've made this couple of phrases,
2012 is almost halfway through. However, it has showed me so many things that are way beyond my wildest imaginations. Well perhaps that has always been the way God works to people whose trust is fully surrendered to Him. By going out from my comfort zone, and having faith in Him to step into the unknown, I find myself in awe of the wonders God has in stored for me the moment I followed Him in obedience. Like a reward for doing something good, I find this as a gift God gave me as I followed Him. Or maybe this is God giving the desires of my heart as I delight myself in Him.
Transferring to another university never has been an easy thing. The decision itself underlies so many risks to take, so many fears, worries, anxieties, and even doubts. Moreover, it has been my dream to get the best quality that I could get in my tertiary education as much as possible, of course if the Lord permits it to happen. It has been my prayer, my desire, since November 2011, as I continuously seek His will for my college life. As what I wrote before, it's in 2011 where I learned to stop arguing with God. And know the truth of that phrase has just started to sink in my mind, my heart, my life. There are really, realities, that are hard to swallow. Truths hard to accept. But then it really depends on your perspective--on how you look at things. I remember what my friend told me just recently. She told me that at the end of the day, it's actually up to us in how we interpret the things around us. So true. May God give us the wisdom and guidance in the way we think. As I see other people's lives, I started to understand how people's perspectives differ one from another. That is why, I thank God for giving me so much, so much, so much to humiliate me. Humiliation was never a pleasing thing for me, but ONLY by His grace, I've been humbled by His love and goodness, and I've learned to appreciate His humiliation.
This summer, it's not only "Youth Camp" that was a learning experience for me. Even "what's AFTER Camp" has become a learning experience too. Not only the "1'st valley", but also about the "transition" from one school to another, more like from one life to a new life. After all, so many things have changed after God began changing me for the better. But I've come to know that when something is really meant for you, when it's God's will for you, everything will be smooth. Just like what our youth leader at church told us, though there may be glitches, trials, obstacles through the process, but at the end of the day, you could still sleep with peace in your heart, resting assured that "this is His will for me, for I know He has been working in and through it, showing me that He has taken care of this matter". And yes, it has been proven very clear in my life. Now that I'm enrolled, waiting for classes to start, I could testify how sovereign God is and how He could work freely in our lives just to show us that "the Christian life is all about knowing Him more deeply each day through the things He does in us". Just as the writer wrote, "God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform..." God is paving the way for us, the only right way for us. He's clearing the obstacles in it, as we continue to take a step of faith for Him, and until we reached the end of His will, He will continue to reveal Himself, until finally, that day comes where He'll be there, taking us home, to see Him personally.
"Let go. Give up. Surrender." These are another bunch of things I've learned recently. I really gave up A LOT in my previous school. I let go so much things that really hurt me for a while too. I surrendered too much opportunities and ambitions. But now, as I come to think of those things again, I realized they are things that shouldn't have been in my life at the first place. I've found out that they are things that caused my life to be drowned in mundane affairs. They are things that made my life more like a religious daily routine. Things that robbed the "true peace, joy, and laughter" that I once had. I admit. I went BEYOND the limit too. I wanted so much things that I slowly forgot to whom those things were pointing too. At the end they no longer pointed to the One I was supposed to represent since the beginning. At the end I realized they never really made me joyous, but instead they brought restlessness to my weary life. Again, "fame", "popularity", and "position" will NEVER EVER give one satisfaction. You'll end up wanting MORE and MORE. Yes. These were the things I let go, I gave up, I surrendered to Him.
That's why really, at the end of the day, after the waves have calm down, you'll see yourself left in the aftermath of God's wonder once again, thanking Him, praising Him, for taking away what was "seemingly good" in exchange for what is "really, truly, the best". I thank Him for making my desires in-line to His. Now, after I've had the right heart, (that is continuously being cleansed and purified by Him everyday), He has placed me here. A place I did not care about at first, but then today, I can say, "this is the place He has placed me, He wants this, therefore I want this too."
It is really, a gift for my 17'th birthday. Classes will also start on my birthday, so what more could I say? THANK YOU LORD! More than this gift, You also gave me so many, too many blessings on the side. Maybe at first, I wasn't able to understand how those could look as "gifts", but now Lord, I've learned to appreciate their beauty as well.
I do thank Him for those "extra blessings" too. Not to mention the "1'st valley" too. I learned that in every part of our lives, He must be the center. That's why I've made this couple of phrases,
"Lord,
In my personal life, be glorified,
In my school life, be glorified,
In my academics, be glorified,
In my home, be glorified,
In my church life, be glorified,
In my ministries, be glorified,
In my relationships, be glorified,
In my social life, be glorified,
In my words, be glorified,
In my conduct, be glorified,
In my music, be glorified,
IN MY LIFE, BE GLORIFIED"
Indeed, it's something we as humans could never be able to perfectly do every single nanosecond of our lives, but by His grace again and through His strength and enabling, may we strive to glorify Him in our lives. And as long as He's pleased with what we do, let's continue doing it. People may not like it, whether they may be unbelievers, or even believers (sad to say), but as long as it doesn't jeopardize God's name from being glorified, we could continue doing it. At the end of the day, what really matters is to be transparent enough to God and let Him cleanse and purify our ways every single day. What matters is that we listen to Him, not to men, we hear from His word, not from the world's twisted, impure, corrupt, man-made ideologies. This is not rationalizing, but rather we become more sensitive to Him, and even to the Spirit, to the point that we'll know if something has WENT BEYOND THE LIMIT, not because of "what people has accused, what people has judged", but because of "what the Holy Spirit tells us from God's Word". Truly, this has been a truth that is hard to comprehend, but I thank God for letting me understand this by experiencing it first-hand in my life, as early as this age.
So, call it an "extra gift" isn't it?
Thank You Lord. Thank You for "summer 2012". Thank You for the first-half of the year 2012. And I thank You in advance for the next-half.
So, call it an "extra gift" isn't it?
Thank You Lord. Thank You for "summer 2012". Thank You for the first-half of the year 2012. And I thank You in advance for the next-half.
"TO GOD BE THE GLORY!"
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