A few days ago, I logged-on to my Friendster account to see what’s new (believe me, I have one). One person in my network happened to be my classmate during my good old college days. I then went on to see who the people were in her network and I was surprised to see a lot of our former classmates as her “friends” in her account. One by one, I viewed their profiles and pictures. After each profile, I grew sadder and sadder. Why? I realized how successful most of my classmates have become. Some of them are now working abroad, some have reached executive levels in the companies they are working at, and some even now have their own business to manage. They went on to fulfill their dreams while I,… I was living a life so far from what I dreamed of during my college days. The realization that I performed far better than them in school made what I was already feeling more excruciating. Don’t get me wrong. I am not putting any doubt on their ability to be successful. I knew even then that they really have what it takes to someday be achievers. I am so proud of them! What strikes me hard is the thought that I could have also been like them.
Probably, one reason I felt that way while browsing their Friendster accounts is the fact that growing up, people around me had voiced their future expectations of me. I remember, during my high school days, the principal of our school introduced me to the president of the institution as “one of the pillars of our school”. Later, when I graduated from that school, another official told me, “We expect that you will become the most successful in your batch.” In college, high expectations like this continued. A classmate of mine, while we were rehearsing for our graduation rites echoed what others before have already voiced, “I expect you to become the most popular from our class because of what you will be achieving in the future.” A few years later, I feel that they’ve achieved more than me. Yes, I am currently in a managing position in the private school that I work at. Yes, twice I appeared in national television as guest psychologist for two popular TV programs here in the Philippines. Yes, I am currently leading the operations of Living Waters Asia. But in that moment, I felt that I fell way short to people’s expectations of me. For a brief time, I was telling myself, “I could have achieved more if I did not concern myself with the task of sharing the Gospel.”
I forgot four reasons why I am where I am right now.
I forgot that God owns me. The fact that His ownership of me naturally should put me in His Will totally skipped my mind. A car-owner can bring his car to wherever he wishes to bring it. The owner of a house can choose to paint his house purple if he wishes to. A cook can just give the food he cooked to whoever he wishes to give it. The same goes with God’s ownership of me. Because He owns me, He can just do whatever He wants to do with me. But the truth is, He does not operate that way. He allows us to exercise our free will in deciding if we will do what He wants us to do. This brings me to the second thing I forgot.
I forgot that it was me who chose to follow Him. I had all the options laid in front of me. I could’ve chosen to work in the secular world if I wanted to. I could’ve chosen to work for money and not for souls. But I chose to follow Him; therefore, I must not go on living with regrets. I must stand by my choice no matter what it brings me. Had I chosen to fulfill my dreams of material wealth and worldly fame, he would’ve allowed me. But it was I who chose to hold His hand while He led me to where He wanted me to be. As a mature individual, I have to fulfill my commitment.
I also forgot that the things of this world are just temporary. When Jesus said, “…lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break nor steal (Matt. 6:20),” He was not really making a command. He was, instead, laying down the reality of the permanency of what we choose to call “our wealth”. I wanted a kind of wealth that would last throughout eternity and not something that won’t even last my lifetime. This is the reason why I have made myself busy in winning souls for Christ and training others to do the same. Material wealth can be lost in a minute. Many people have lost their fortitudes of wealth in an unexpected fire or calamity. Numerous investors have lost their life-savings in a quick crash in the stock market. Rich people have experienced being robbed by other people. And still, there are also those who, although their wealth are not lost nor robbed by others, lose the joy and contentment that their wealth once gave them. What we do in service to the Lord yields for us treasures that will never ever be lost. This is the reason why we should not fill our hearts with envy for temporal things that people around us so proudly parade.
Lastly, I forgot that He already did a lot for me. First, He gave me life. In my mother’s womb He took the time to form me. He gave my body parts that will enable me to function in a world of complexity. He gave me a mind to help me think my way out of any problem. He nourished me physically and made me the most advanced among His creations. He made me His ultimate work of art!
Secondly, He gave me a chance to live the rest of eternity in a place that He, Himself lives at which I very much do not deserve. He gave me this, despite the rotten and sinful me. I failed Him a lot of times. I filled His heart with sorrow because of the sins I’ve committed against Him. But His love for me over-shadowed the pains I caused Him. He even decided to take more pain just so I could have the chance to someday live with Him in His Kingdom. He died on the cross for me. He did not deserve what He experienced there. I deserve all the punishment. I should be the one in Hell. But He said, “Step aside. Let me do it for you.” And what did He ask for in return? Nothing. Just a simple but genuine “sorry” and faith on His ability to save me, made me a recipient of the greatest gift of all--- His forgiveness. Because of the sacrifice involved for the fourth reason, you can remove the first three and I still have a big reason why I should be doing what I am doing right now.
I’m so ashamed of my short memory. I allowed myself to be caught up with the lure of the worldly things that I don’t have that I totally forgot that what I have is more than what are in the world. Probably the reason why I forgot was because my former classmates seem to be enjoying life more than me. In my service to our Lord I’ve experienced unenviable things. I remember one time, after preaching unannounced in front of about a hundred people in a plaza in Bacolod City, around 10 to 15 people started to surround me shouting curses against me. Then a bald woman suddenly stormed in the middle of the crowd and spat in front of me then told me that I came from Satan. Another time, a person rudely cut me while I was preaching open-air. Then, there’s this one evening when the devil, himself attacked me physically to the point that I couldn’t breathe anymore. And you can add to that the daily struggles against sin, the ridicule of people for my commitment to the cause of the Gospel, the lost income due to the fact that I now only work part-time in the school that I help manage and, the constant problem of keeping Living Waters Asia afloat financially.
Serving the Lord is not a “walk in the park” or “a bed of roses” as most preachers preaching a modern Gospel message would tell you. The reality is if you follow Him, you have to get yourself ready to go through a lot of uncomfortable situations. The disciples never got a smooth sailing life when they decided to give their lives to Jesus. In fact, they encountered a lot of storms in their journeys. They were put in prison several times and were reviled and persecuted for the message they preached. All of them, except one (John) died a martyr’s death. If they experienced these things, why in the world should I expect that my service to Him will be positively different? Jesus said, “In this world you shall have tribulations…(John 16:33)” Furthermore, it is expected of us “to be partakers of His sufferings (1 Pet. 4:13).” In serving the Lord, expect your whole world to be turned upside-down.
One day though, all of these hardships will end. The pain, the embarrassments, the struggles, the scars will all be things of the past. Our tears, my tears will all be wiped away. The things I never received in this world, I will finally have and even more. And the applause I never got from people here I will never desire anymore because I will hear the God of this universe tell me this, “Welcome, my good and faithful servant!” That commendation from the One who loves me so much will make all the hard service I rendered Him worth it all.
Probably, one reason I felt that way while browsing their Friendster accounts is the fact that growing up, people around me had voiced their future expectations of me. I remember, during my high school days, the principal of our school introduced me to the president of the institution as “one of the pillars of our school”. Later, when I graduated from that school, another official told me, “We expect that you will become the most successful in your batch.” In college, high expectations like this continued. A classmate of mine, while we were rehearsing for our graduation rites echoed what others before have already voiced, “I expect you to become the most popular from our class because of what you will be achieving in the future.” A few years later, I feel that they’ve achieved more than me. Yes, I am currently in a managing position in the private school that I work at. Yes, twice I appeared in national television as guest psychologist for two popular TV programs here in the Philippines. Yes, I am currently leading the operations of Living Waters Asia. But in that moment, I felt that I fell way short to people’s expectations of me. For a brief time, I was telling myself, “I could have achieved more if I did not concern myself with the task of sharing the Gospel.”
I forgot four reasons why I am where I am right now.
I forgot that God owns me. The fact that His ownership of me naturally should put me in His Will totally skipped my mind. A car-owner can bring his car to wherever he wishes to bring it. The owner of a house can choose to paint his house purple if he wishes to. A cook can just give the food he cooked to whoever he wishes to give it. The same goes with God’s ownership of me. Because He owns me, He can just do whatever He wants to do with me. But the truth is, He does not operate that way. He allows us to exercise our free will in deciding if we will do what He wants us to do. This brings me to the second thing I forgot.
I forgot that it was me who chose to follow Him. I had all the options laid in front of me. I could’ve chosen to work in the secular world if I wanted to. I could’ve chosen to work for money and not for souls. But I chose to follow Him; therefore, I must not go on living with regrets. I must stand by my choice no matter what it brings me. Had I chosen to fulfill my dreams of material wealth and worldly fame, he would’ve allowed me. But it was I who chose to hold His hand while He led me to where He wanted me to be. As a mature individual, I have to fulfill my commitment.
I also forgot that the things of this world are just temporary. When Jesus said, “…lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break nor steal (Matt. 6:20),” He was not really making a command. He was, instead, laying down the reality of the permanency of what we choose to call “our wealth”. I wanted a kind of wealth that would last throughout eternity and not something that won’t even last my lifetime. This is the reason why I have made myself busy in winning souls for Christ and training others to do the same. Material wealth can be lost in a minute. Many people have lost their fortitudes of wealth in an unexpected fire or calamity. Numerous investors have lost their life-savings in a quick crash in the stock market. Rich people have experienced being robbed by other people. And still, there are also those who, although their wealth are not lost nor robbed by others, lose the joy and contentment that their wealth once gave them. What we do in service to the Lord yields for us treasures that will never ever be lost. This is the reason why we should not fill our hearts with envy for temporal things that people around us so proudly parade.
Lastly, I forgot that He already did a lot for me. First, He gave me life. In my mother’s womb He took the time to form me. He gave my body parts that will enable me to function in a world of complexity. He gave me a mind to help me think my way out of any problem. He nourished me physically and made me the most advanced among His creations. He made me His ultimate work of art!
Secondly, He gave me a chance to live the rest of eternity in a place that He, Himself lives at which I very much do not deserve. He gave me this, despite the rotten and sinful me. I failed Him a lot of times. I filled His heart with sorrow because of the sins I’ve committed against Him. But His love for me over-shadowed the pains I caused Him. He even decided to take more pain just so I could have the chance to someday live with Him in His Kingdom. He died on the cross for me. He did not deserve what He experienced there. I deserve all the punishment. I should be the one in Hell. But He said, “Step aside. Let me do it for you.” And what did He ask for in return? Nothing. Just a simple but genuine “sorry” and faith on His ability to save me, made me a recipient of the greatest gift of all--- His forgiveness. Because of the sacrifice involved for the fourth reason, you can remove the first three and I still have a big reason why I should be doing what I am doing right now.
I’m so ashamed of my short memory. I allowed myself to be caught up with the lure of the worldly things that I don’t have that I totally forgot that what I have is more than what are in the world. Probably the reason why I forgot was because my former classmates seem to be enjoying life more than me. In my service to our Lord I’ve experienced unenviable things. I remember one time, after preaching unannounced in front of about a hundred people in a plaza in Bacolod City, around 10 to 15 people started to surround me shouting curses against me. Then a bald woman suddenly stormed in the middle of the crowd and spat in front of me then told me that I came from Satan. Another time, a person rudely cut me while I was preaching open-air. Then, there’s this one evening when the devil, himself attacked me physically to the point that I couldn’t breathe anymore. And you can add to that the daily struggles against sin, the ridicule of people for my commitment to the cause of the Gospel, the lost income due to the fact that I now only work part-time in the school that I help manage and, the constant problem of keeping Living Waters Asia afloat financially.
Serving the Lord is not a “walk in the park” or “a bed of roses” as most preachers preaching a modern Gospel message would tell you. The reality is if you follow Him, you have to get yourself ready to go through a lot of uncomfortable situations. The disciples never got a smooth sailing life when they decided to give their lives to Jesus. In fact, they encountered a lot of storms in their journeys. They were put in prison several times and were reviled and persecuted for the message they preached. All of them, except one (John) died a martyr’s death. If they experienced these things, why in the world should I expect that my service to Him will be positively different? Jesus said, “In this world you shall have tribulations…(John 16:33)” Furthermore, it is expected of us “to be partakers of His sufferings (1 Pet. 4:13).” In serving the Lord, expect your whole world to be turned upside-down.
One day though, all of these hardships will end. The pain, the embarrassments, the struggles, the scars will all be things of the past. Our tears, my tears will all be wiped away. The things I never received in this world, I will finally have and even more. And the applause I never got from people here I will never desire anymore because I will hear the God of this universe tell me this, “Welcome, my good and faithful servant!” That commendation from the One who loves me so much will make all the hard service I rendered Him worth it all.
"Let us then be true and faithful
Trusting, serving everyday. ust one glimpse of Him in glory ill the toils of life repay.
what a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
we'll sing and shout the victory!"
This hymn sums it all up perfectly. what a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
we'll sing and shout the victory!"
