20 Hours

I’ve been up since 6:30 AM of yesterday and as of the writing of this blog, it’s already almost 2AM of the next day. To end a very long day, I look back on the things that happened for the past 20 hours, and pondering on each of the activities that happened, I can’t help to thank God for the people I had fellowships with throughout the day. In between those fellowships, I learned something and encouraged more as I journey onto life.

Here are some of the lessons I learned and pondered on:

• Amidst all what’s happening around you, always look onto God and always bear in mind that whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. (Colossians 3:23)
• Whenever you feel like you are going the wrong way or it feels like you feel like stuck at the moment, there’s one person ready to listen to you and He can be reachable 24/7, God. You just need to say a little prayer, and trust in Him and He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).
• Treat every challenge as a stepping stone to improve and make yourself better. You may be entering a new season in your life, but one thing is for sure, God is preparing you for greater things. The discipline being developed may be quite hard, but after you surpassed these hurdles in life, you will come out stronger and better. Hebrews 12:11 says “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

At the end of each day, always check your heart. For the past few days prior, God has been so gracious to me and He keeps reminding me of this verse from Proverbs 4:23 (NLT) “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

God bless us all

Pause, Lost & Restored

There are stories in our life that can either make us or break us. Both have a quite effect on the way on how we interact with other people.

I’ve been busy for the past days preparing for an event to close the month of September. On top of work schedules, there are some errands to finish, designs to do and a lot of things in between.  I also had a fair share of both type of stories, some happened a couple of days ago. Minor casualties have been made causing some little misunderstandings. This leads me to ask myself asking, “Where I have been?” There’s something wrong already.

Having said that, I would like to share what I have learned:

1.       Pause: Think for a minute

With all the things that surrounds us, with the ups and downs of life; we should always pause and assess our situation, whether we are still doing the right things with the right motives.

²³Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. ²⁴See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV)

2.       Lost: Now what?

As I stood up I the crossroads of life, I can’t seem to move on. I can’t decide where to go. I’m lost in the reality of life. Have I not learned from the previous mistakes I had? Are the things just pass by like a wind brushing our hairs? Do I need to learn everything the hard way?

No, I have to stand up and remember to why I am running this race and who are with me as I run towards the finish line.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,

Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

3.       Restored: Going back to God

After all that happened, realizing the cost of what the things that just happened, learning in a hard way is really tough. You have to go through a series of hurdles, and at some point, the thought of giving up came into my mind and go back to my old self.

Above all things, God’s love will still prevail.

³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)

At the end of the day, it is always about God. As Colossians 3:17 says “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”