Hands to Heaven

Perhaps you're wanting to start a new ministry, perhaps you're wanting to apply to another job or perhaps you wanted to get serious with someone you really like. Whatever it may be, there are seasons that God may tell us we are not ready but then later on, He will let us know when we are ready. These are my common realizations in the waiting as I traced God's way of telling me or encouraging me to do something new or start stepping into the unfamiliar place. If you're one of my closest, you know that I'm the type of person who won't do something if I know I'm not ready, or I didn't prepare myself for it. That's why I think carefully before writing this piece, because we have different personalities, levels of spiritual discernment, and of course God can speak to us in various ways. These realizations I share are based on my own experience, discernment, and meditation of The Word in connection of some events in the past where I strongly sensed God tel...

Look down the road. There are too many smart and gorgeous people who can catch one’s attention. But what if, out of seven billion people in the whole world today, you can now bravely say: ‘this one is for me’. Indeed, it is an ultimate point where reality is finally better than any wildest dream! Unfortunately, waiting is not a game as some people think. It is a serious pause. It is real. For it is incorporated by our precious time. It is embedded that before someone joyfully receives something he or she must wait patiently. The longer the time we endure, the more we value the day it arrives. We just must switch our mind from being rush and hurry to being still and silent so to consider that our time is in His hands. The joy of receiving depends on one’s patience. The amount of joy that will occur in our receiving can be measured by the height of trust we invest in our waiting. One very good professor and an author of the book “True Love Weds”, Prof. GraceGaston-Dousel ...

Hindrance in Waiting One day when I was sitting in a restaurant, I was attacked by what I called, “Heart Burn”. It is not a typical heart burn which doctors explain or can be treated by a normal paracetamol. While spearing a few strands of pasta, my attention was caught by this couple who simply hold-hands and pleasingly cuddle each other’s arm. Unluckily, the tone of surrounding fails to cooperate in my domino-effect sentiment. Romantic song joined the cold noon breeze that touched my face. Until, the flame of bitterness demands me to leave the place. In other words, it is a throbbing state of heart that totally distracts ones healthy outlook about singlehood. It is like a heart that is burning in jealousy and doubt which entails an illusion; “ I am insignificant ”, “ I am unattractive ”, “ I am a looser ”. Wherever I placed my sight, lovers pass by, kissing and embracing. Count in the pestering questions of family and friends, which builds pressure in my timetable. Whenever ...

Guilt: Trash at the Human Heart while Gem in the sight of God  There is an invention in the car industry nowadays; it is called electronic gadgetry. It is a sound effect that is placed on the car to notify if something wrong with it. It functions immediately when the normal set up of the car is not totally in placed. The light begins to blink, produce an alarming sound that quickly caught one’s attention. That warning will generally give an ample opportunity to avert a potential disaster. However, when the warning is ignored sure trouble comes. Our bodies are much like modern cars. We are all equipped with a warning system that tells us something is wrong or out of place and could cause trouble. That warning system is called  guilt . How a person deal with his guilt will determine whether he is able to travel the road of life and accomplish the will of God or whether he break down along the way. The meaning usually given to the word guilt in Christian circles t...

  The Scripture repeatedly exhorts us to regard the wilderness not as a place of punishment, but as a place of deep purpose.  The Israelites spent forty years in the wilderness. For some, the wilderness is a place of confusion, wandering, loss of clear purpose, and exposure to great risk.  I remember when Professor Noli Mendoza, our bible subject teacher quoted: “Wilderness is a place of Testing”. [1]  But I believed that more than testing, it is also a place of preparation. The series of geographical undertaking of the Israelites before they reach the Promised Land is one portion of God’s plan. I had a chance to browse the book,  “Waiting on God”  written by a female author named Cherie Hill. She quoted from Charles Spurgeon’s saying: “The Wilderness is the way to Canaan. Defeat prepares us for victory. The darkest hour of the night precedes the dawn.” [2]  Considerably, for singles, wilderness is the metaphor of waiting room experience. At ...

Based on the story: When Jacob Marries Leah & Rachel Genesis 29:14b-30 As a part of God's promise to his grandfather Abraham, Jacob was guided from the very start. He was clearly told by his father Isaac all the instructions that will help him on his journey.  Being one of Laban's closest relative and because of his diligence, he was given an opportunity to ask for anything, a reward for his goodness.  Most of the time, God allows us to ask for something we desire to have; but at the precious time like this, He initiates us to ask for anything. God knows everyone's heart especially when we are serving him with love. His graciousness is at its best when he allows us to ask or petition of something we deeply desire even though he has greater in mind.           In the story, it is visible that Jacob was fell in love with Rachel. As part of agreement, he have to work for seven years for Laban- the father. Jacob did not m...

For singles, the only thing that presumably tarries is the appearance of “the one” in the picture. The book Passion and Purity written by Elizabeth Elliot is a best prescribed for those who are tormented by the pressure of time and longingness. Elliot describes waiting as a period of preservation and bringing one’s love life under the authority of Christ. Aside from waiting for the right person to come along, the Lord has already set before us the time to cultivate one’s personality under the decree of His Word and power. In result, we might not only find the one, for through the process we are also working in faith to be the best person for the right one. Therefore, a single person must also engage in the power of preservation.   If we are not yet able to respond rightfully in this process, we have to remain steadfast and optimistic until the God of love ushered us to His perfect will for our lives. If it is in God’s perfect will that we get married in this life, the...