Ever since I had kids, this has been a common scenario in my life: Just as I finally get some time alone to do some things that require a certain level peace and quiet, one of the girls come running to ask me for something. It may be something as trivial as a hair clip to something that is a matter of life and death– for them, anyway. Either way, I noticed that our kids do not really have a good sense of timing. They just come whenever they feel like it, for whatever matter they feel like discussing. They don’t stop to think about how to say things or how to express themselves properly. They don’t stop to think about how they look. There’s no need to put up a front. They come to you when they are sad and when they want to cry as if it’s the end of the world. They come to you when they are happy and overly-excited that it seems as though the whole floor has turned into one giant trampoline. They come to you when something scares them. They come to you when something bothers them. Often times, they even have a hard time articulating themselves properly. They often get their thoughts all jumbled up as they try to translate what’s going on in their heads into words.
Still— you, as a parent who loves them dearly, listen anyway. Never mind that you were set on finishing that project for the house. Never mind that you were set on doing something else. You stop and listen anyway. It is a joy to see them come running to you. You don’t even notice the messy hair or the runny nose (well, you do, but you listen first and take care of that later). You don’t even notice the fact that sometimes they don’t make sense. You feel what they feel. You’re the first to rejoice with them when they’re happy. You become sad when you see them crying. You would do anything to comfort them and make them feel safe and secure. You would do all those things because you love them. They are your children.
And they know it.
Our children know that they have complete access to us. They know they can come to you anytime and you would stop and listen to them. (Well, that’s the ideal response. We are but humans who fall short, after all). They know that by virtue of them being your children, they are granted that privilege of barging in (in a better sense of the word).
Sometimes though, our children grow up forgetting they have unlimited access. All of a sudden, they have to wait for “perfect timing” to ask for their allowance or something they really like or to be allowed to go over their friend’s house. Before the weekend of the party arrives, they stock up on points by being extra nice– helping out with chores and studying really hard– to increase the chances of their requests being granted. A lot of teenagers grow up suddenly forgetting that they can come talk to their parents about anything and everything. They filter out what they think their parents would consider as “bad” stuff and share only the good. Instead of acting like children–members of the family, they begin behaving like boarders who just happen to stay and be under the care of their parents.
When we started out in our walk with God, realizing what Jesus has done for us and that through Him we have been made children of God, there was no limit to our asking. We would be so excited to tell God everything– every desire, every disappointment, every detail of our lives.
Then we “grow older”. We forget about this unlimited access and we try once again to “earn” God’s favor by stocking up on points. We start editing what we say, as if He doesn’t see and know everything. We act as if there’s only a certain time when we can come talk to Him.
It’s my prayer that we would never grow old when it comes to our faith in God. I pray that we will always be like little children and know that we can come to God anytime, anywhere– no matter how messy we look or how inconvenient the timing seems to be, or how difficult it is for us to articulate ourselves. I pray that we will always remember that by virtue of us being children of God (through the cross of Christ), we now have complete access to God, and we have the awesome privilege of barging in anytime, anywhere.
…And our Heavenly Father, our perfect Father whose ways and thoughts are far beyond our own (and who is beyond our capacity to disturb and interrupt)— is more than willing to listen.
…And yes, He is going to wipe off the tears and the runny nose, too. :)
“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
When Jesus made this invitation for us to come, it was with the premise that most probably, His people would be weary. He knew that the greater percentage of us who would be needing this invitation had a profile of this kind: tired, confused, weary, burdened. If He had expected otherwise, He would have given us this invitation instead: “Come to me, all you who have got it all figured out in life, and I will give you rest.”
But no. He didn’t say that. He has extended his welcome for those who realize that they do not have it all figured out. He has long been inviting those who acknowledge that this life has left them tired, sometimes confused, and most probably overwhelmed.
This loving Jesus— God the Son who saw it fit to walk through this earth, had actually lived long enough in this world to know every possible temptation and burden we might face. This loving Jesus— God the Son who counted it a joy to give His life for us, actually knows –I mean, really knows– what it is like to live life in this fallen world. This loving Jesus— God the Son who is now reigning on His throne in heaven is telling us, inviting us, welcoming us….to come. No need to figure it out just yet…just come.
And that’s not the end of it. Here’s the promise: I will give you rest.
Rest for our minds, rest for our bodies, rest for our hearts, rest for our spirits….REST.
Peace… joy… security… REST.
“Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.” Hebrews 4:1
Over our “last supper” earlier, Dennis asked me what I had listed down as my faith goals for this year. If you’ve been joining us for the past few years of prayer and fasting, then you’ve probably been making this list, too. If you have no idea what I am talking about, let me explain as briefly as I could…
Every start of the year, our church calls on everyone (whoever wants to join) to go on a seven-day prayer and fasting. This is the time when we consecrate ourselves to God corporately, and together we believe God for breakthroughs in every area of our lives. In line with this, we usually make a list of the many things we are believing God for– be it in the area of ministry, family, health, finances, etc. We call this our “faith goals“. This list is usually an acknowledgement that “with man, it is impossible; But with God, all things are possible!”.
I hope I didn’t confuse you even more with that explanation, but let me move on and get back to my point…
Over dinner, Dennis and I began to wonder how it must have been like when people of the Bible fasted. Did they have a set of lists, too? Or did they just come with expectant hearts, ready to ask God boldly, yet also willing to surrender to whatever God said– completely?
For the past years, I’ve diligently listed down my faith goals. It’s always been an extensive list of the many things I am believing God for, broken into categories to make sure I don’t miss out any detail nor any area of my life. That’s just my O.C. self, and it’s been working well. It was always the case that just before the fast, God would impress upon my heart the “theme” he had for me for that particular year. (Last year, for example, it was Joshua. “Be strong and courageous.”– I had no doubt that was God’s charge for me. True enough, that was the word I needed to hold on to last year!). That’s how it’s been almost every year.
This year, however, is a bit different. I haven’t come up with a list yet, and I feel that God wants me to come with a blank list.
He wants me to come EMPTY.
He wants to be the one to make the list. Instead of coming to God with a set of things I want to ask Him for this year, He just wants me to just come to Him, period. He wants me to come to Him– completely surrendered and ready to take His marching orders. He wants me to come to Him– to seek Him, to be fully satisfied with Him.
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”
From there I have no doubt I will still end up with a list after the fast– but this time it will not be a list of what I want to ask Him for, but a list of His desires made my own. It will be a list of His plans revealed for me to obey. It will be a list of His promises for me to just walk into. Breakthrough will be inevitable then, and just like the Psalmist says…
“SURELY, goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.”
Our church is currently going through the Book of Ephesians. For the next six weeks, we will be discussing all six chapters of this book. I thought it best to put my personal Bible reading plan on hold and read Ephesians for the next six weeks too, for me to grasp as much as I can from this book.
As expected, the first chapter alone is so rich! Last sunday, the preaching was focused on the spiritual blessings we have in God. A lot of us go through life not enjoying the fullness of all that God has for us, because one, we might not be aware of what we already have in Him, or two, we might be so caught up in trying to acquire things this world has to offer us, that we fail to receive the best that God has already given us. I have nothing against getting good stuff. Material blessings are still blessings. But we must be careful that in an effort to acquire these things that money can buy, that we do not lose sight of the things that money can’t buy.
It is a wonderful thing to be reminded of the spiritual blessings we have in God— we are adopted as sons and daughters, chosen, redeemed, forgiven, and loved. But there are three verses that our eyes tend to just skim through after we read all the blessings– verses six, 12, and 14 tell us that we are given all these blessings “to the praise of His glorious grace.” To say it plainly, we must keep in mind that the main purpose why we have been given these blessings is to showcase God’s love and glory. It is for His praise and His glory. Paul not only reminds us that we are tremendously blessed by God; he also reminds us why we are tremendously blessed— to the praise of His glorious grace. In short, the main character of this story is still not us. We become recipients of the benefits (yay!!!), but we are not the star of the show.
We have been given grace to enjoy, but as we enjoy, let us remember: we are to live our lives to the praise of His glorious grace. :)
I’m just dropping by to say that I MIGHT not be able to drop by for the next five more days.
——– brain halt —— and then light bulb moment —————
Oh, yeah. Since I am already here, I might as well briefly share with you what I have been preoccupied with lately.
Every start of the year, our church goes through seven days of prayer and fasting. This isn’t something that’s required, really…but we do highly encourage our members to join us. Every year we see more and more people in our prayer meetings, and every year we hear more and more stories of incredible and almost impossible things happening in people’s lives. We hear about instantaneous healings, relationships being restored, financial breakthroughs, freedom from addictions….so many stories that remind us that we do have a God who is alive and who is in the business of changing people’s lives.
I have not been able to join our church for the past five years of fasting because I got pregnant, then on the second year I was nursing Alyanna, then I got pregnant again, then I was again nursing for the next two years after that. SO this year I am so happy that I am finally able to join everyone else! It is just the beginning of the year, and I am already experiencing some wonderful surprises from God! I couldn’t wait to experience not just more of His surprises and blessings, but to experience and get to know more of HIM. I just know that He is about to reveal Himself in a greater way this year! I just know that He is about to do such amazing things this year— things that even seem impossible to man. He will do all these things so that when all is said and done, there will be no denying it that it is God who did everything….so that HE will get all the glory.
I apologize if this post sounds religious (well, you should have been warned by the title)….but I can’t help it! Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (or the fingers type), right? It’s just like when I am so excited about the food I eat, I keep telling people about it…only this is way better than food! I cannot help but tell people about this God I am living for!
Did everything I just typed answer the question about what I have been preoccupied with lately? Hehe…I think not. Or maybe that’s just it— since I haven’t been eating, there’s really not much that I have been doing, nothing much to pass the time with. LOL! Seriously though, I would like to really take this time to read some books that I have set aside specifically for this time, and just savor my moments with G.
If you’re a member of our church and you’re fasting with us (or even if you’re not, and you’re just someone who happened to drop by here), do let me know some of the things you’re believing God for. I’d love to pray with you!
PS:
Here are some other random thoughts while fasting…
This has been one awesome Sunday! This month has been so full of activities that for the past two Sundays, I haven’t been able to attend our weekend services. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I missed worshiping and singing at the top of my lungs, seeing my spiritual family, and of course listening to my dear husbandry preach the Word.
So today was quite a comeback! This weekend marked our third year as a church in Greenhills. There were no gimmicks at all, but in celebration of our third year, we just launched our third service! Yes! Three on three! God has been so faithful to us as a church and I am just so amazed at how He has been moving in the lives of all the people. I am just super kilig with you Lord. Ibang klase ka talaga!! *siiighhh….*
Anyway, aside from the three services, one of the highlights of this day for me was hearing an amazing woman’s testimony of courage and strength. Raissa Laurel, one of the victims of the La Salle bombing a few months back, is a member of our church in Ortigas and there is no denying that this woman exudes with so much grace and faith. I’m posting a video of her testimony that our friend took earlier. (Thank you Carlo!)
(*side note: this was her first time to give her testimony in church so she made it really short. Hehe…I got the privilege of hearing the extended version over dinner.)
“Be careful what you pray for.” God takes our prayers seriously. Not only that, God is never mediocre when it comes to answering our prayers. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind can know what God has in store for you. When you start praying life-changing prayers, better be prepared for life-altering and faith-stretching answers.
PS: Dennis did a great job,too!!!! I attended the last service and I know it was quite a stretch for him to be preaching three times in a row, but he pulled it off! *clap!clap!*
Here’s the promise: I will give you rest.
