Great is Thy Faithfulness ! Lord unto me..

Heello dear viewers..

My God indeed is a faithful God. I can testify to this wondrous truth. HE is indeed a rewarder of those who dilligently seek Him! I can testify to that too! When I see the Lord work in His mysterious ways, I feel so lost, so puzzled by the way in which He does His work. But by trusting, and enduring the circumstance, I begin to see His hand firmly guiding my hand in a time of storm. But when all that was puzzling and confusing comes to light, I begin to understand the logic behind everything, and understand the reason behind each circumstance. His way indeed is perfect!

Job 23:10
But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

Though the start of IT be tough, be weary, be painful, I begin to understand, each time God reveals His perfect way to me, that at the end of that circumstance something very very blessed is awaiting me. I feel that it is at the start where most Christians stumble. When facing a trial, one easily gives up when everything caves in onto him or her. But if we were to hold on to God' s promises and claim on them, to be trusting and never doubting God's care in every circumstance, we will see LIGHT at the end of our testing. And as the verse Job 23:10 explains, God knows the way that we take and He too, knows the end of the path we take. And after He had tried us, if we were to endure and to be found faithful, we shall come forth as GOLD! OH what joy to be refined by God and eventually allow God to mould us into something so precious. The refining process may be painful and tedious, but if we were to look at WHO is refining us, never turning away our eyes from our dear, loving Potter, we can endure whatever is in our way, and look towards seeing satisfaction in His eyes when all is complete!

I am a very very happy boy now. Because I have been rewarded because of His faithfulness to me, and I to Him. The satisfaction at the end of everything is worth the pain during the process of refining. It is definitely worth the pain-enduring. Because what I enjoy now is a satisfaction that can last forever, the satisfaction that only God can give. Thinking of it, if I were to give up at the start of my trial, there will be nothing left delighting in, but only misery. At least, even though it be painful during the refining process, I know that I am walking in His will- That is definitely something I can delight in. Now that He has rewarded me, I have another thing to delight in! I hope through relating my experience and my testimony, you would be encouraged and learn to be faithful in any trial that comes in your way. Never doubt God's 1) faithfulness 2)judgement 3) perfect way 4) (most importantly) love for us!

In the previous entry, I've related what happened when the Wind of Sorrow, the Sharp Wind blows fiercely against me. And I had two choices, 1) to question His way, and become bitter against all that HE has done to me 2) to accept is gladly as His perfect way, and to be trusting Him for the next step to take. Thankfully, through God's strengthe, I chose the second way, which turned out to be God's choice too! :)) Now for the weary, painful, and long process of refining up to the point where God rewards generously.

The refining process:
After the first hurdle, which proves to be tough to many Christians-on-trial, there are many many other hurdles ahead before the finishing point is seen. If, by God's grace, we are able to cross over the first hurdle that stands in our way, fear not, there are many more to come! Hah.. To make the right decision when the circumstances is placed before you, is the first hurdle. So you either choose God's way or the world's way. The hurdles after the first signifies how we react to the circumstances, what we do after choosing the way to take, and how we overcome doubts that are planted by the devil in our minds. And to endure and overcome all obstacles, require trust and faith in the One leading us. If we were to look away from Him, we will lose our balance and fall flat at the next hurdle. Other than trust in the Guide, patience and endurance is needed. So this process is where God toughens us, both spiritually and physically. It is here where God sees our faithfulness to His word, and the amount of trust we are willing to give our Savior.
To relate what happened to me during this process. Well, after making the decision, I do not just stop there and wait for everything to turn out well. IT doesn't. I pray earnestly everyday for God to reveal His will in this matter, I dilligently seek His word for answers to comfort and encourage me( and it never failed to), I ask for prayers, and I take everything that comes positively. Inevitably, there were doubts as satan tries to discourage me in my work for the Lord. But God is faithful, and never allows me to be tempted beyond what I am able to hold on, and through His grace I am able to pull through. In prayer, I bring my desires onto the altar and lay it there, and I pray that God will do His will wherther I like it or not. I pray earnestly for my dad, that the Lord will soften His heart. I read a few verse which really encouraged me and comforted me alot during the testing days. I'll like to share two.

Romans 12:12
rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;

My bible has this center column which explains each verse clearly by giving another reference to another verse which has the same meaning as it. So it had been rather helpful in my bible study. "[R]ejoicing in the hope" actually means that we should rejoice because we have this hope that we are bound for heaven in future. So, through all things, we know that whatever happens, we still are sons and daughters of the Lord, bound for heaven someday. Isnt that delightful? "[P]atient in tribulation" explains itself clearly, it encourages me to be patient even in my testing and yes, I told myself that I will be patient and enduring what God deems as best for me. And "continuing steadfastly in prayer", the center refernce refered me to a verse in the gospel in which Jesus said we should pray continually lest we lose hope. Wow! 3 verse in one, which seemed as if it had been written just for me! I have to always be on my knees praying praying and praying lest I fall into one of satan's trap of losing the hope and losing faith that we have in our God. So there it was, one verse can mean so much. And so, I meditated on this verse for the day. Thankful for it!

and

1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

HAha, another verse that seemed just to be written for me at that moment. Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. The bible teaches to do God's will steadfastly, not allowing ourselves to be moved away from our stand by any distractions and always, always be doing His will. And it ends with a comforting phrase, assuring that our labour, our work is not in vain in the Lord! Wow, looking back, it really seemed as though that verse was always there for me to claim upon it. So praise be to God who gives consolation, comfort and encouragment in the times of trials.

And because of these verse, I am so assured by God to stand my ground and be strong in Him and do only His will. I leaped across hurdles by hurdles with the aid of God's word. It has became so true and so powerful, as God's living word to me!

Doubts that cross my mind were so many. Everyday, even in prayer, I encouter them. Face to face. Hah. Some of these doubts appear to be so harmless, but in fact, it can really sway me away from doing God's will. One perfect example of these doubts is that memories of youth camp starts to surface in my mind. Hah.. Best. It brings back so much good memories and times that we had spend together in youth camp. And I was contemplating those precious memories. And the "what ifs" starts to sneak behind these harmless memories. And thankfully, by God's strenghth, I am able to see through satan's disguise. "What if I am not able to go for camp? What will I do? I will miss out so much fun together? I will miss the life changing experience that awaits me. I will miss the fellowship." Harmless as they seem, they can cause one to doubt God's sovereignity over all things, to doubt God's will, doubt His judgement, doubt His faithfulness and doubt His love for me! Oh, if I had known what the end of my circumstances would be, I will straight away resists all these thoughts right away! But I didn't, so I only could pray that God will still do His will, surrendering my will to Him, and ask that He guard my heart and mind.

So thankfully, by fixing my eyes on my faithful Guide, hurdle after hurdle, I leap over rejoicing as I look back on how far I have ran the course.

In the process, God gave me an idea to write a letter to my dad to make my stand and fight not only for my chance to go for the camp, but also to go for youth activities. I did so, and I prayed about it. It was quite a long letter though. Ha, considering how much I write for each entry. Hmm, yes I did pray hard about the letter before sending. I sent him on thursday night, before I went to bed. Then, the last hurdle appear quite a distant away. I begin to see all sorts of temptations shadowing the last and final hurdle. Fear, anxiety, doubts ready to pounce on me. That night I was struggling quite hard, both phyiscally and spiritually. I was down with a disaterous cold and my nose keep running, making me feel super not comforable. I was also pleading with God that He may grant the desires of my heart, but even so, let His will be done. I was praying hard. So, going back to the analogy. I make the final leap, high, swift, and the scene pauses there, before going into a blackout. Ha! So dramatic.

I woke up the next morning, early early to go for the creative muVo2 5gb mp3 player. Then I messaged my dad and asked for the reaction to my email, and also asked permission for that day's youth camp prep meeting. He replied, read my email. I misinterpreted it as he asking me to read my email for his reply, so I said I was outside and couldnt. And he replied ok. I didnt probe further. He didnt make himself clear so I had trouble understanding what he meant. So I smsed, later asking whether I can go for the youth meeting. He said I can only go for this time. I was still quite puzzled and asked whether I could go for the camp. What did "this time" meant? But he didnt reply. SO the climax is still hanging there, not knowing what God's will is and whether the final leap was successful.

Tata! It was until I got home that I realised dad replied my email. And because of my courage to stand up and fight for my chance to go for camp he rewarded me! The final hurdle was successfully leaped over and I raced all the way to the finishing line! God had proved to be a faithful God who knows definiely what He is doing. And indeed, great is His faithfulness to us!

Everything happend for a reason. One reason is that I may be strengthened in my faith and grow to understand my Lord in this way that I had related. Another reasont is that I can testify to everyone that God is simply a faithful God.

Like to end with this verse that has been on my mind for quite sometime, and I can see how God fulfills His promises to Hischildren. Meditate on it:

Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.