Living with Uncertainty

Earthquakes are happening everywhere!  The latest that has caught our attention is Japan, in Sendai, where not only are they reeling from an earthquake but also from a tsunami.  Before that there was an earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, another one in China, in Indonesia – everywhere around us, all with catastrophic results.  We have had news of earthquakes in our country also, but not as bad as what we have been seeing in Japan and New Zealand.

Ask a geologist and he will tell you that earthquakes happen all the time, we just don’t feel them.  But It’s the big ones that really bring the worst damage.  The thing is there is no way to predict when an earthquake can come.  We all have an idea of the effect of a major earthquake.  The scary part is that we don’t know when it will strike.

Life is really so uncertain.  We don’t know, can’t tell or predict when they will happen.  Sometimes all we can do is go through the consequences.  And it’s not just earthquakes.  It’s the same thing with problems, trials, hardships – we can never tell when they’re going to come.  They just do.  So how do we prepare ourselves for disasters such as these?

Proverbs 3:25-26  Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,  for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.

Have no fear of sudden disaster.  Earthquakes, fires, trouble, trials, hardships – they are sudden disasters.  They come suddenly without warning.  Are Christians exempted from these?  No.  But God tells us not to fear them.  No matter what this world may bring upon us our hearts should be confident in our Lord.

For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.  In the midst of the disaster God is with us.  It is His presence that gives us confidence, that no matter what the circumstance we’re going through our Lord is with us, and He will see us through.  If I may borrow a line from a Simon and Garfunkel song - “like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down”.  God will lay Himself down and see us through.  Actually, God has already laid Himself down.  All we need to do is trust in Him.

Psalm 32:6-7  Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.  You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

A mistake that many make is this:  the only time they pray is when disaster comes.  No, we need to pray while He may be found!   And when the mighty waters rise He will be our hiding place, He will protect us from trouble and surround us.  Why?  Because disaster or no disaster He is our hiding place.  We are so used to hiding in Him that no matter what the circumstances may be, good or bad, we are with Him.

Isaiah 43:2-3  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.  For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

Yes we may have to pass through the waters and rivers, and we may have to walk through the fire, but God’s promise is I WILL BE WITH YOU.  The waters will be there, but they will not sweep over us.  We may feel the heat of the fire, but it will not set us ablaze.  For the Lord our God is with us.

Life is uncertain.  But our God is certain.  His promises are certain.  We can entrust our life to Him.  We should.

How NOT to complain

Aside from crime and corruption, one of the common things you will see in the local news today is complaining.  OFW’s, despite the fact that they are safe back home, or waiting for rescue in hotels outside Libya, complaining that it took the government too long to take them home, or of the food they are being served, or that our country could not send planes or soldiers like the British did.  Drivers and commuters complaining about rising gas prices.  People complaining about government officials.  Complain, complain, complain…grumble, grumble, grumble.  I guess that’s what makes it “news” – when we focus on the bad things, rather than on the good things we can be thankful about.

And it’s not just on television.  In real life complaining is so much a part of our life.  Yes, “our” lives, including mine!  We like to complain about everything.  Usually it is during times when things don’t go our way.  We complain when the car in front of us is not driving as fast as we want.  We complain when our salary is not as high as our friends salary.  We complain when the food served in a restaurant is not as good as we thought it would be.  Let’s face it – we’re all inborn complainers (hmmm, I wonder if there is such a word?  Oh, there is!  Just checked with the dictionary:  A person given to excessive complaints and crying and whining).  Yeah, we’re all complainers, although some of us in our own simple and quiet ways, but we all complain.

So what is the antidote to complaining?  There’s a passage in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonica church that comes to mind:

1 Thessalonians  5:16-18  Be joyful always;  pray continually;  give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ

BE JOYFUL ALWAYS.  I’m not sure if you’ve ever noticed how being joyful affects how you react or respond to seemingly bad situations?  When our hearts are filled with joy we tend to see everything in a “positive” way, more calm, more peaceful.  That’s what joy does – it’s infectious.  It fills and affects our hearts.

But it also depends on the source of joy.  If our joy comes from temporary things, then that joy is also temporary.  But if our joy comes from something, or Someone, eternal, then our hearts are also eternally affected.

Psalm 4:7  You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.

This is the kind of joy that fills our hearts so much that it stops us from having a complaining attitude.  Don’t leave your home with out it!  This is why it’s so important for us to be spending time, quality prayer time with the Giver of Joy.

PRAY CONTINUALLY.  Prayer is not meant to make us get what we want.  Those who pray for this reason still complain, because God does not always give us what we want.  Prayer is meant for us to refocus our hearts on the One who is Sovereign, in charge of all circumstances surrounding our hearts.  Prayer allows us to surrender, to trust, to entrust all of the situations we are in to the One who holds our life.  Knowing that God is in charge will help curb that desire to complain.

Phil 4:6  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Phil 4:7  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES.  It’s important to see what God is teaching us through this verse.  It does not say “give thanks FOR all circumstances”, but it tells us to give thanks IN all circumstances.  In other words, no matter what circumstance we may be in, we are asked by the Lord to have a heart that is always thankful.  Of course bad circumstances will arise in our lives – but even when they do come we are to maintain an attitude of thankfulness.  There is always something to be thankful for, and it is not necessarily within the circumstances you are in right now.  And, there is always someone to be thankful about.  Above all, we should always be thankful for the Sovereign God we have entrusted our lives to.

When you think about it, the sequence of the passage makes sense – when we are filled with joy, and pray to our Sovereign God, thankfulness will surely fill our hearts, no matter what the circumstance.

Phil 2:14-16  Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life--

Do everything without complaining or arguing.  It shows who we are, what God has made us to be, and what our purpose in life should be – to shine like stars as we hold out the word of life!

Free iPad!

For facebook users…did you receive a post that said this:  Hey “your name” I cant believe it, I actually got a free ipad to test out and keep. They are only giving away a limited supply, so I'm showing you this. There are still giving them away from the new years overstock! I absolutely LOVE the iPad :).  Ok, so did you click it?  Were you excited about the fact that you also could get a FREE iPad!  If you did, it’s either a “worm” entered your computer and sent this to all those in your friend list, or it was a deadly virus that hacked your account and closed it.  Or nothing happened.  Or, what’s worse, is that you really got a free iPad and that’s going to make me regret not clicking it!

But most probably nothing happened.  And when that happens, don’t you end up feeling like a fool for actually clicking on something, hoping to get something really big or expensive, but ended up with nothing?  Well, that’s what all of those worms or viruses do – they attract our attention, prey on the desires of our heart, and then when we click – bang!  we’re caught in their trap.  And you see it in your wall – your friends who clicked it are sending the same thing to everyone in their friend list.

That’s exactly how temptation works.  And if we’re falling into it in facebook, I wonder how we’re doing in our everyday life?
James 1:14-15 (NIV)
14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.
15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

The picture used by James here is that of a fish attracted to a bait, running after it because it looks delicious, not knowing that it is stuck to a hook.  And when the fish bites it is caught.  It ends up in the frying pan.  The same thing happens when we are tempted.  The sin looks so enticing, so delicious, too good to turn away from.  When Satan tempts us, he’s not going to show us the consequence of what we’re going to do, or the ugliness of the sin.  He’s going to focus on how good you will feel, how much you will enjoy it – even if it’s just for a few seconds.  And when we bite…bang!  We’re caught in the sin, and suddenly all the ugliness of what we did sinks in, and we feel bad.  Then the tempter becomes the accuser – He will accuse us to our face, making us feel down, depressed, causing us to fall away from God.

How important it is to temper our desires.  No, more than that, how important it is for us to surrender our desires to the Lord, and allow Him to place His desires, His will, His kingdom in our hearts.  Christians are not people who lift up their desires to the Lord.  Christians are those who live according to God’s desires for them.  “Your kingdom come, Your will be done…”.  How we’ve forgotten that aspect of the prayer the Lord taught us.

So, the next time we see a worm wiggling, or an iPad ad calling us to click.  Think twice, thrice even.
James 1:16-17 (NIV)
16 Don't be deceived, my dear brothers.
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

If God has something good for you it may not necessarily come from a click of the mouse.  It will most probably come from working hard, saving up, and of course discerning well if that iPad (or whatever else you’re praying for) is really for you.

Blowing our Horn

I had a very interesting experience recently.  My car broke down and I had to borrow the L300 van of the church.  For the first few days of using the van I found out the horn was defective.  In other words it didn’t work.  And for Filipino driving the horn is very important!  Unlike in other countries where the blowing of the horn is considered disrespectful, here in our country the blowing of the horn is a necessity!  There are many occasions where we love to blow our horn.  When a car slowly or suddenly swerves towards us we blow the horn to warn them that we’re right beside them, or when they slow down at the middle of the road to talk to someone (yes, that still happens in less populated and small cities like where I live in) blowing the horn is important.  And with all the motorcycles and bikes in our roads it is so important to warn them that there are vehicles sharing the road with them!  Or even pedestrians who just choose to cross when and wherever they want to.  Of course there are those drivers who are just plain disrespectful, who blow the horn just like they talk, and just blow it whenever they want to.

And so imagine my predicament of driving a van without a horn!  It was a nightmare for a while!  Every time another car would slowly swerve my way, I couldn’t do anything but slow down.  When pedestrians would cross, I would be forced to give way.  And when driving beside a motorcycle or biker I would be watching them closely making sure that I would not hit them.

But after one day of adjusting, I found myself driving differently.  First I was driving slower, just to make sure that I did not bring myself into a situation where I needed to blow my horn.  If a car would swerve my way, I found myself giving way.  And if a car slowed down, or would not move right away when the traffic light turned green, I would just patiently wait, not able to blow the horn anyway to remind him to go.  It made me realize that there are times when we just blow our horn for such minor reasons that it becomes irritable, rather than necessary.

As I was driving I thought - this is what it must be like when we have to hold our words.  Just like cars we have a tendency to blow our horns, speak words recklessly and disrespectfully, whether it is called for or not.  Most of the time we are lead by our emotions, whether it is anger or irritation with others.  Sometimes, just like the traffic around us, people “swerve” into our space, or they may do things that we disagree with.  And we warn them, or shoo them away, with our words.

There are a number of commands of the Lord in Scripture that warn us of the misuse of our words.  For example:

Proverbs 17:27-28  A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered.
Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.

Using words with restraint is a characteristic of a man of knowledge.  Keeping silent and holding our tongue is a wise and discerning thing, even for a fool.  There are times we need to speak, but this does not mean that we speak what we want and when we want.  It always pays to discern and pray for what words to use.

Ephesians 4:29  Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

The use of our words must come from a proper and pure motive – to build others up according to their needs.  There are reckless people who need to be corrected.  There are those who hurt us, jump start our anger, who need to be told.  Never in Scripture is it taught for us to hold our emotion, even anger, but it is clear that the words we use are to be wholesome, encouraging, rather than destructive.

Let us live life as if our “horns” were defective.  If someone tries to swerve recklessly our way, or does something we disagree with, let us discern and pray before we blow off our words out of our mouth.  It is better to be silent, patient, understanding, rather than destroy someone with our words.

A “Baguio” experience

I miss Baguio.  Ever since I can remember, from the early 60’s when I was born, my family would always go up to Baguio.  It became a family tradition for us, going up summer time, and then again during Christmas time and new year.  Even when we were teenagers and we had our own gimmicks already, we would still find ourselves with the family.  Especially when I started to drive, and my Dad trusted me to drive up to Baguio – from that moment I looked for that drive, every opportunity to just go through the highways, and up Kennon road.  During my college days my friends and I (The “Friday Club” – Hi guys, just in case you’re reading this!) would just go up at the spur of the moment, leave at 4am, arrive just in time for breakfast at the old Camp John Hay, which was still a US base then.  Our family used to own a property that had a beautiful view of La Union and a river heading out to sea.  All of us would go and build a bonfire, roast marshmallows and hotdogs, and just enjoy nature at its best.  You can just imagine what me and my friends would do while we were there! 

Even when all of us siblings were married, my Dad would still plan trips to Baguio.  He made sure that the “apos”  would enjoy Baguio just as we did.  Eventually the trips lessened, and now that all of us have gone our separate ways, and our parents are now too old to travel, the Baguio trips with the whole family stopped.

Even when I was already in the ministry, and I needed a break, I would drive up by myself and just stay there and rest.  Both the drive and the place would be used by the Lord to restore my soul.  Any chance I could get to go up I would grab it.

That’s why I miss Baguio.  Last December I sort of shot up a small prayer to the Lord, wondering if we would have the time and budget to be able to visit Baguio again with my wife and kids.  But it didn’t push through.  But I’m still hoping that one day we will be able to go up and enjoy the place as much as I did.
But it wasn’t as if God didn’t answer my prayer.  A few days ago our church had a 3 day prayer and fasting in the foot of Mt. Kanlaon, in a place called Rafael Salas Nature Park.  When we arrived this was what greeted me:

                                               

                                            

                                            

The cool air, the fog, the trees and plants, the view – it all reminded me of being in Baguio.  And I found myself thanking the Lord for answering my prayer.  I wasn’t in Baguio, but He allowed me to enjoy the same cool air, the same ambience, that I was looking for.  He answered my prayer not by giving me exactly what I asked for, or by bringing me to Baguio, but in His own way.

This is how God answers prayer.  Many think that God is like a vendo machine (that’s what we used to call them) – choose what you want, drop a coin, and out it comes.  But it doesn’t work that way with the Lord.  Sure we have our desires…but God does too.  He has desires for us, desires that fit in with His kingdom and His plans for us.  So when we bring a prayer to the Lord many times He doesn’t answer us exactly as we wanted it to come out, but if we just sit down and rest on Him and trust Him we will eventually realize He does answer our prayers.

We are assured in His word that God is after our enjoyment:
1 Timothy 6:17 (NIV)
17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

But true enjoyment does not come from external things – circumstances, material things, wealth, etc.  True enjoyment comes from the heart.  One child can have enjoyment with his expensive “nerf” gun, while another child can have the same enjoyment with his gun made out of pieces of wood put together.
True enjoyment comes from being thankful, being content, and recognizing that all blessings, small or great, come from the hand of a God who loves us and does want us to enjoy life.  The Lord hasn’t answered my prayer to go to Baguio yet, but He did answer it by allowing me to enjoy a much simpler place but with a similar ambience.  And my soul was satisfied.

I pray your souls may be satisfied too with what God provides for you each day for your enjoyment.
Ecclesiastes 8:15 (NIV)
15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun.