Numbering Our Days

An elder's message one sabbath said that man strives to find meaning in his life. He said that it is man's greatest fears. I especially like the part where he said, "when all is said and done, we want our lives to count for something!"

It was the only thing that remained after listening for his sermon twice. True enough it may seem to be the only reason why we keep on living. We currently experience a global crisis that even the smaller kids see with their own innocent eyes. The carefree days were long gone. A day when kids could just play in the streets while their parents watch them with sheer wonder and amazement.

Looking at the lives of some people around me, I can see...

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Lengthened Lent

I took a walk around the neighborhood one Sunday. It was one of those rare days that I really loved. I had nothing important to do. Normally, I would be rushing evaluation reports and progress reports for submission that week. Yet this time, the heaviest task ranged from buying something from the store next door to finishing my regular meals.

No patients. No reports. It was a Sunday with no rush. Life seemed to be at ease. I love it.

I met life as I went around. I saw children playing the remnants of some of the street games we used to play long before PSPs and the like came into the picture. Parents were also there sitting at the doorsteps, laughing as their children ran around. It wasn’t chaos. It was life at its most basic: Fun.

As I made my way through the teeming crowd of children, a curious sight caught my eye. Read on...

This Little Light of Mine

Would you believe that the moment I breathed a sigh of relief, I received a sudden call?

I was truly thankful that the Dear Kuya Episode 2 was canceled. I was downcast, I admit. I really wanted to hear the stories these couples would share to us. At the same time, I felt really glad. This week was like hell for me. The papers that I needed to rush because I set my own deadline were the agenda each night. Added to this is the daily race around the clock to provide quality service to my puny but restless clients. They were kids and I was a bigger kid, just imagine the games we play. So this is what working 6-8 hours a day in a week feels like. It burns.

So I have already set my mind on a blissful sabbath with only the deaf ministry to think about. I thought things would have been set to the right mood. That was what I thought, until my phone rang.

I was alone at home. I wanted to rest. The rest of the family went to church. I was not expecting any other commitments since I already informed my small group that I can't make it. Suddenly my phone rang. It was kuya mike, one of YM's leaders. What I heard shocked me! He told me to be the superintendent this sabbath.

It was like a shockwave to my ears. I never knew that I would reach this point. To be supe or superintendent, means to be incharge of the sabbath school program. It's the program where most people attend. It is also one of the most busiest and tragically, most pressuring program. I've seen a few of my AMiCUS-UPM friends bend and fold at the pressure of keeping the program well.

I guess I am really over reacting. Kuya Mike told me that I'll just be reading the remarks. But it seems to be the start of some new ministry. Once more, God has given me another fuel to keep my fires burning. It may be a small ember but heck, I'd do anything to keep it going.

Well, I guess if it is God calling and telling me to go, I'd definitely keep it aflame. I don't want to find myself inside a big fish or be banned from entering somewhere for my resistance. It's for the Lord, and I believe He will strengthen me to conquer it.

STRANGER THAN FICTION, STRAIGHTER THAN FACT

Imagine yourself living a routine. You wake up each day with the same yawn greeting the first light of morning. You brush your teeth and taking a bath at exactly the same way each day before going to work. You enter the same office cubicle each day. You earn the adequate wage you needed to survive each day and still enjoy the simple pleasures that it could offer.

Suddenly, out of the nowhere you discover that someone is dictating your every move. Someone else is controlling you. Someone else is moving you against your will. Someone else is writing down the whole course that your life would take. The exact routine, the precise events, down to the very minute detail has been written down. You learn that your whole life has been like a puppet on strings. Worse yet, that someone have already plotted your imminent death.

Scary isn’t it?

This same scenario is the basic plot of the film “Stranger than Fiction.” Starring Will Farrel as Harold Crick an IRS agent who finds himself in a tragic novel by sadistic writer Karen Eiffel (portrayed by Emma Thompson).

The movie is far from what we could call a blockbuster film. It has neither grand special effects nor special setting. It has no car chases, gun fights or any adrenaline-pounding scenes. It is the film’s subtle and crafty (not to mention funny) way of injecting such philosophical thoughts and ideas that make it a worth watch.

Watching the film allowed me to reflect on how these ideas could be possible. I found out that the film sought to explore and play with several concepts:

 

WHAT IS REAL?

The film plays with the reality issue: is this world real? Similar to the concepts toyed by the film “The Matrix,” “Stranger than Fiction” doesn’t show reality as planes and dimensions as showed by the former. In the film, as Eiffel meets the character she created, she was surprised when Crick whom she is about to kill in the novel was a real living person. She sees a fictional character come to life. This leads to another question: what would happen if she killed him in the novel?

As Christians, we believe in a different reality issue. We see this world as temporary compared to the real world awaiting us when Jesus returns. It is a simple concept that wouldn’t be surprising even to our Author. In fact, the Author of each of our stories would even be more than happy to meet and talk with us.

 

WHO IS IN CONTROL?

Emma Thompson in the film portrays a writer with a flair for the tragic and sadistic end of the characters in her novels. In the film, she tried to conjure several scenarios on how the protagonist (Will Farrel/Harold Crick) would die. However, she found each scenario either boring or impractical. How she decided to end the man’s life became too tragic and important at the same time.

In addition to this, all throughout the film, certain scenes of men, women and a kid who seemed to be not related to the story were being flashed. In the end, however, it appeared that these people’s lives were also interwoven by Eiffel to give justice to the death of Harold Crick. In the process, it showed the extent of the author’s grip was not only exclusive to that of the protagonist but to others as well. Furthermore, even the steps that the protagonist took to meet the author seemed to be a part of the story itself. It is control beyond measure. It’s like playing God.

So who is in control? True enough, in the world of fiction, any writer would have complete control of the world they create. They have complete power over every character. Everything is in the hands of the author. And whatever twist he or she might conjure could be possible.

Consider us blessed. The real fact stands that we have only one Author and that Author would never be so twisted as to lead us into harm. Although He may have the entire power to control each one of us, He still opted to give us the reigns to choose for ourselves. He gives us the option to be controlled or be left alone. He allowed us to choose for ourselves but would still receive us with arms wide open whenever we come back crying.

Well, enough making you guess. Of course I’m talking about God. He is the Author and Creator of this world we are walking in. He knew us from the very start and loved us.

 

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE IN LIFE?

Perhaps one of the most evident concepts in the whole film is on a person’s real purpose in life. In the case of the obsessive compulsive Harold Crick, his whole purpose as weaved by Karen Eiffel surprisingly became significant in the lives of other people, particularly to a young boy’s life. But to see your life being controlled by a single person would entail a purpose and a rationale you cannot entirely see.

The whole film shows how blindly the hero works through his way to find the voice that dictates his life not knowing that every move he makes is written by that same voice. It shows craftily how a person’s purpose is being entirely controlled by someone else. Even though he thinks he is completely free, his way of thinking, his mannerisms, his daily routine, even his love-life is under the control of someone else.

I shudder at the thought that such a thing could be possible. What if you’re entirely a character in a novel being read or written by someone else? What if all this time, you were unaware that your whole life is being dictated by an entity?

Weird isn’t it?

But let us be rest assured that a Maker such as our God isn’t that way. He doesn’t enforce His will on us. Instead he gives us full reigns to let us be in control of our lives. He has a purpose for each one of us but it is for us to accept it. And if God was in control of our lives, in charge of our purpose, we really don’t have to worry.

 

As Christians we really should not fear that something like “Stranger than Fiction” could happen. Consider that if we really look at it and if we really wanted it, someone else is already in control of our lives. And that someone else is more powerful than anyone of us. That someone else is a mightier and craftier than any writer or filmmaker we know. Best of all, that same someone else loves us more than we could ever know and that is the truest fact you could ever know.

When God Asked The Question

“Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, an answer thou me.” – Job 38: 3

 
More than once, I have come to ask God why we experience hardships in life. Before I started working, I kept on struggling with my issues during in internship. I began to seek answers on how hard life could be and why am I undergoing such trials. More so when while working, issues such as money, pride, responsibility and so many others started to surface. It was even too much to bear when question after questions barraged my brain that I could not answer.

Why should these things fall on us? Why do we have to struggle a lot? Why does life seemed so burdensome? These questions in mind led me to search the scriptures.

I have known that of all the great men in the Bible, Job’s struggle was by far the greatest. Where else can you find a righteous man whose success in life is unrivaled by anyone in his time. Yet with one swoop everything disappeared leaving him not only broken hearted but broken physically as well. But with that already in mind, I still didn’t know the whole story.

What I learned from Job is astounding.

Consider a man like him, he was called blameless. Yet the sudden turn of events made him seemed to be cursed of men. All his children dead, his properties stolen, his wife estranged, and his body almost left for dead all at the same time could be enough to drive any man stark raving mad. It was the hardest for anyone to endure.

Job’s tragedy never fully ended there. His friends taunted him for days with Job trying his best to counter their every word. When Job is at the brink of giving in to their will, the most amazing thing happened God spoke. If that isn’t enough to put you in awe, then you’d be surprised at what he said: He asked questions.

We all know what happened when God spoke. In Genesis, his very words made the world as we know it. His breath even holds the very lives that we have. The last time He asked a question, Adam and Eve were banished from Eden. In Exodus, his mere presence caused the all the hairs on Moses’ body to turn white. Bottom line is you really should cower when He asks you something.

What God asked to Job at that time was really astounding. Putting yourself in the shoes of that man, your trouble was only the loss of everything you have and here was the giver of it all, asking you where were you when he made all those donkeys, camels, and much more your life?

It is a bitter sweet reminder to all of us that these things that we experience are petty things compared to what God has done for all of us. Job’s story was God’s challenge not only for Job but for all of us. Should we try to ask Him why, we should prepare ourselves to answer the who, the what, and the where.

7:11 AND ONWARDS

Imagine a man walking inside this church. He looks haggard and worn. It even seems that he has not eaten for several days and his body is about to fall. But when you look at his clothes, he seemed like the man you see in the office. A CEO type.

He walks along the aisle. Slowly, very slowly. It was as if every step felt heavier. And when at last he reached the front pews, he suddenly kneels down and cries out in agony: “LORD, I BEG YOU HELP ME! MAKE ME RICH! SAVE MY BUSINESSES!”

In another side of the church, in the farthest corner, another person sits on the pews. This time a woman sat there. Her eyes closed, lips quivering in prayer. She started pouring out her heart to God as tears fell down her cheeks. In agony she prays for healing her sick son, her failing health, her depleting savings.

Now on one of the function rooms of the church, a group of young individuals gathered and started to pray for each other. They prayed for their families, their fellow brethren inside the church, for their ministry and for many other things.

So what do you think am I pointing out here?

You see, that man, that woman and the group of young individuals are all illustrations of some of us here in this church. Most of us are in agony or are in dire need of divine guidance and intervention. Some of us may even pray and praise God for whatever blessings we may have had. And when these things do happen, our bodies fall down on their knees and talk to our Creator. So we all pray.

For the past five months, I have learned how nerve racking this life could be. All of us may have already realized that, but with the current crises with the gas prices, the inflation rates, and our never changing income, it’s really devastating.

Warriors All

For the past years, we have learned to be more prayerful. We have learned to take a knee and pray fervently, faithfully. We have learned to become PRAYER WARRIORS!!

YES! Most of us have become more prayerful because of the crises. We have suddenly remembered what Jesus said:  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matt. 7:7, 8). And so everyone is down on their knees and starts praying. Now, we don’t only pray before we sleep, when we wake up or before we eat meals. We try to find time to pray almost every instant we can. AM I RIGHT?

So what does it mean to be a “prayer warrior”? I myself have been wondering the very same thing. I’ve prayed for protection from being too greedy or being misled by the enemy’s guile, but at the same time, I’ve prayed for that BMW, that brand new cell phone, and so many other things. Aside from not getting what I wanted, more questions on how prayer really works started to seep in.

An article posted in the Adventist Review Online website also poses the very same query. It even goes on to tell us that if what we mean by “prayer warrior” is someone who does battle using prayer, then who are we battling against? If our idea is to pray fervently enough to prevail, then doesn’t that lock us into a battle with God, Himself? Pretty weird isn’t it? But if that is our mindset, we seem to think that God would eventually wear down and give in to our request. It would seem to suggest that too much pestering would make God irritated and just say: “Alright quit talking, I’ve heard that 30 times this week! HERE, TAKE WHAT YOU WANT!” So in a sense that would make God some sort of a convenience store.

So what’s wrong with that picture, my dear brothers and sisters?  If we read the passage again, we see that the bottom line is asking God for help. It is true and I don’t plan to contest that at any moment now or in the future. And of course, we also know that it takes prayer and faith to get the things that we request.

We see so many illustrations of that in our Bibles. My favourite illustration is Elijah praying over the widow’s son and the boy came back to life and Elijah praying on Mount Carmel to send that fire from heaven. Daniel and the lion’s den also comes to mind when I think about praying faithfully and fervently.

But then, we also see that same prophet Elijah begging God to take his life, but God give him an angel instead. Our Saviour also prayed for the cup to pass from Him, but he died all the same.

Of course we may all argue that Jesus asked for God’s will to be done. But doesn’t that give us more questions than answers? How would we know the difference between God didn’t answer my prayer because it is not His will versus God didn’t answer my prayer because I didn’t pray fervently enough?

Sandwiched

If we look at the verse again carefully, this time in the similar message in Luke 11, we find a very interesting illustration. The verse is sandwiched by two illustrations.

First we see a man helping a friend at an ungodly hour. His friend’s persistence bade the man to give more than enough bread even though he and his family are already sleeping. Imagine our similarity to this picture, where in our persistence and in our faith in our God, he will still give us more than what we need.

The second one is similar to the first, it tells us about a son asking for his father for fish. Jesus asked the people if the father would give him a snake instead. And it ends with a comfortable thought: “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matt. 7:11).

Isn’t that really comforting to know? Don’t you feel relieved by those words? I can see some nodding ( I just hope they’re not sleeping) and some are saying yes.

But now the question: Why do still things turn out badly even if we pray for it so hard and so faithfully?

Tell me if any of these has not yet happened to you: We pray for financial stability, and things still get wavy. We pray for help in an interview and we just goofed on that interview. We pray for safety but Voila! FLAT TIRE! We pray for healing but all we see is more suffering and sometimes, death.

But that is not all. What about what the article termed as “conflicting prayers”? Just like when two opposing teams both pray to God for help in winning the game. Just like when you pray for fair weather for you to go out while our farmers pray for rain. What about those? Hindi kaya mailto si God sa mga pinaghihingi natin?

Would God say, because you asked for a sunny day, you will have the sun over your head and over yours alone. And you farmer, because you prayed for rain, only your fields will have rain clouds over it. With the two teams, He might say because you both prayed to win the game, you will have the same score all throughout the game. Hey, you’re shooting more than I intended to, pass that ball to your opponent. Go ahead.

So do we know everything about prayer? So how or why are we still asking God?

Wait! Before you get completely discouraged, look at that comforting text again? The one with the giving of good gifts? It’s in Matthew 7:11! What about Luke’s version of the text? Look up Luke 11:7 and onwards. It’s the same illustration, but let us look at the difference of what Jesus said in the end. “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13). Whoa! Sabi ni Matthew good gifts, pero sabi ni Luke Holy Spirit!

Dear Brethren! When we ask, when we seek and when we knock, God promises the Holy Spirit! And what does it do? I think we already know this as a fact. But if not, look it up at 1 Corinthians 12: 7-11.

Now you realize how much comfort God offers us. He really gives good gifts. He even gives us the best gifts – The Holy Spirit that gives according to our need and abilities. Remember how he granted the prayers of the like of Daniel, Esther, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and all the other prophets? Well, bear in mind, that even though God answered their prayers, things did not always went well with them. But the Spirit was still with them when they went through all those trials. How else could Stephen ask for forgiveness to those who were stoning him?

God still wants us to be persistent and not lose heart. He still wants us to realize that we need to be prayerful. When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, he taught not to present a prayer equation or a formula. Rather, he is teaching us that God loves us and wants to give what is best for us – even when that gift may be the things we least expect.

And what greater gifts could we ask for than to be “loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled”? Which all comes with the gift of the Spirit.

May God bless each of us with more faith and more of the Holy Spirit.